More than one third of Britain's armed forces would have trouble responding promptly to emerging operations, the country's spending watchdog said today.
The National Audit Office warned that 38 percent of Britain's forces, encompassing the Army, Airforce and Navy, had serious weaknesses in their readiness to deploy in the time decided by defence planners.
About two percent of the forces faced critical weaknesses in their levels of readiness, according to the most recent data.
"Given the unpredictable security environment and high operational tempo, there are risks to readiness of the Armed Forces for contingent operations that need to be managed," said the report.
It comes at a time when British forces are stretched. The country has about 9,000 soldiers in Iraq following 2003's U.S-led invasion plus several hundred troops in Afghanistan.
"Looking at readiness for future tasks, this was assessed overall as being "amber" with serious weaknesses that would need to be addressed before forces could deploy," said the National Audit Office.
An "amber" designation in the Ministry of Defence's traffic light system means there are serious shortcomings. It is a step below "red", which would imply critical problems.
The National Audit Office blamed the weaknesses, measured for the last three months of 2004, on reduced training due to operational commitments and also longer-term risks from logistics issues and helicopter shortages.
The report singled out the Navy as being worst equipped to deploy in the designated time, due largely to a decision to focus on improving readiness levels in the Army.