Chief of the Defence Staff
Flag of the CDS
Incumbent Air Chief MarshalSir Richard Knighton since 2 September 2025
Ministry of Defence British Armed Forces
Abbreviation	CDS
Member of	Defence Council Chiefs of Staff Committee
Reports to	The Prime Minister Secretary of State for Defence
Nominator	Secretary of State for Defence
Appointer	TheMonarch[1] on advice of thePrime Minister
Formation	1 January 1959
First holder	Marshal of the RAF SirWilliam Dickson
Deputy	Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff
Website	Official website

Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) is the title of the professional head of theBritish Armed Forces and the most senior uniformed military adviser to theSecretary of State for Defence and theprime minister of the United Kingdom. The CDS is based at theMinistry of Defence and works alongside thePermanent Under-Secretary of State for Defence, the ministry's senior civil servant. The CDS is the highest-ranking officer to currently serve in the armed forces.

Constitutionally, thesovereign is thede jure commander-in-chief of the armed forces. However, in practice, theGovernment of the United Kingdom exercises theroyal prerogativede facto and provides direction of the armed forces through the Ministry of Defence'sDefence Council, of which the CDS is a member.

The current CDS is Air Chief Marshal SirRich Knighton, who succeeded Admiral SirTony Radakin in September 2025.^[2][3] Chiefs of the defence staff are appointed on the recommendation of the secretary of state for defence to the prime minister, before being approved by the monarch.^[1][4]

The responsibilities of the CDS include:

• leading defence (with the Permanent Secretary (Perm Sec))
• setting strategy for defence, including the future development of the Armed Forces (subject to ministers’ direction, and together with Perm Sec)
• the conduct of current operations (as strategic commander)
• leading relationships with other countries’ Armed Forces^[5]

The CDS is supported by a deputy, theVice-Chief of the Defence Staff, who since 1997 (when the CDS post was downgraded) has been of equivalent rank but is ordinarily from a different service to the CDS.^[6]

There are also severalDeputy Chief of the Defence Staff (DCDS) posts who support the VCDS. As of 2015, these are:^[7]

• Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) (DCDS (MSO))
• Chief of Defence People (CDP)
• Deputy Chief of Defence Staff for Military Capability (DCDS (Mil Cap))

The CDS maintains a close working relationship with theMinistry of Defence's Permanent Under-Secretary, who is the Ministry's senior civil servant, and they both report directly to theSecretary of State for Defence. The CDS focuses on military operations and strategy, while the Permanent Under-Secretary's remit concerns administrative and financial policy.

Additionally, the CDS is supported by a Strategic Advisory Panel.^[8]

The post was created in 1959 to reflect the new concept ofjoint operations that had come to the fore in theSecond World War. The first incumbent was Marshal of the RAF SirWilliam Dickson. Prior to the creation of the post, he had served as the chairman of theChiefs of Staff Committee, from 1956 onwards. Before 1956, although no permanent post of chairman existed, the three service chiefs took it in turn to act as chairman at meetings. From the post's inception until the mid-to-late 1970s, CDS appointments were granted on a strict rotational basis between the three services. The first break in rotational order was precipitated by the death of Marshal of the RAFSir Andrew Humphrey.

From the creation of the post until 1997, the Chief of the Defence Staff was appointed to the highest rank in the respective branch of the British armed forces to which he belonged, being anadmiral of the Fleet, afield marshal ormarshal of the Royal Air Force, (NATO rank grade OF-10). However, with the post-Cold War reduction in the manpower strength of the British Armed Forces and the additional reasoning that no new"Five-star" appointments are to be made in peacetime, since 1997 the Chief of the Defence Staff has kept the rank ofadmiral,general orair chief marshal, (NATOOF-9), which he invariably already holds. However, during the 2010sCharles Guthrie,Michael Boyce,Michael Walker andJock Stirrup were honorarily promoted to their respective services' senior ranks, sometime after they had each stepped down as CDS. Although there is no policy against aRoyal Marines officer being appointed, few officers in the Corps attain a high enough rank to be considered for the post. However, in 2016, a Royal Marine officerGordon Messenger was promoted to the rank of general and appointed as Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff. With the implementation of the Defence Reforms in April 2025, the CDS is also in charge of the Military Strategic Headquarters (MSHQ), commanding the four service chiefs and in charge of force design and equipment delivery to the armed forces.^[9] The CDS will also command the Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Military Strategy & Operations) and the Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Force Development).^[10][11]

No.	Picture	Chief of the Defence Staff	Took office	Left office	Time in office	Defence branch	Life peerage	Ref.
1		Dickson, WilliamMarshal of the Royal Air Force SirWilliam Dickson (1898–1987) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	1 January 1959	12 July 1959	192 days	Royal Air Force	None	[12]
2		Mountbatten, LouisAdmiral of the Fleet Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma (1900–1979) Previously served as theFirst Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	13 July 1959	15 July 1965	6 years, 2 days	Royal Navy	Hereditary peerage, Earl Mountbatten of Burma	[13]
3		Hull, RichardField Marshal SirRichard Hull (1907–1989) Previously served as theChief of the General Staff	16 July 1965	4 August 1967	2 years, 19 days	British Army	None	[14]
4		Elworthy, CharlesMarshal of the Royal Air Force SirCharles Elworthy (1911–1993) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	4 August 1967	8 April 1971	3 years, 247 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Elworthy	[15][16]
5		Hill-Norton, PeterAdmiral of the Fleet SirPeter Hill-Norton (1915–2004) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	9 April 1971	21 October 1973	2 years, 195 days	Royal Navy	Baron Hill-Norton	[17]
6		Carver, MichaelField Marshal SirMichael Carver (1915–2001) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	21 October 1973	24 October 1976	3 years, 3 days	British Army	Baron Carver	[18][19]
7		Humphrey, AndrewMarshal of the Royal Air Force SirAndrew Humphrey (1921–1977) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	24 October 1976	24 January 1977 †	92 days	Royal Air Force	None	[20]
-		Ashmore, EdwardAdmiral of the Fleet SirEdward Ashmore (1919–2016) Acting Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	9 February 1977	30 August 1977	202 days	Royal Navy	None	[21]
8		Cameron, NeilMarshal of the Royal Air Force SirNeil Cameron (1920–1985) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	31 August 1977	31 August 1979	2 years	Royal Air Force	Baron Cameron of Balhousie	[22][23]
9		Lewin, TerenceAdmiral of the Fleet SirTerence Lewin (1920–1999) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	1 September 1979	30 September 1982	3 years, 29 days	Royal Navy	Baron Lewin	[24]
10		Bramall, EdwinField Marshal SirEdwin Bramall (1923–2019) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff[a]	1 October 1982	31 October 1985	3 years, 30 days	British Army	Baron Bramall	[25]
11		Fieldhouse, JohnAdmiral of the Fleet SirJohn Fieldhouse (1928–1992) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	1 November 1985	9 December 1988	3 years, 38 days	Royal Navy	Baron Fieldhouse	[26]
12		Craig, DavidMarshal of the Royal Air Force SirDavid Craig (born 1929) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	9 December 1988	1 April 1991	2 years, 113 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Craig of Radley	[27]
13		Vincent, RichardField Marshal SirRichard Vincent (1931–2018) [a]	2 April 1991	31 December 1992	1 year, 273 days	British Army	Baron Vincent of Coleshill	[28]
14		Robin Harding, PeterMarshal of the Royal Air Force SirPeter Harding (1933–2021) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	31 December 1992	13 March 1994	1 year, 72 days	Royal Air Force	None	[29]
15		Inge, PeterField Marshal SirPeter Inge (1935–2022) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	15 March 1994	1 April 1997	3 years, 17 days	British Army	Baron Inge	[30]
16		Guthrie, CharlesGeneral SirCharles Guthrie (1938–2025) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	2 April 1997	15 February 2001	3 years, 319 days	British Army	Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank	[31]
17		Boyce, MichaelAdmiral SirMichael Boyce (1943–2022) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	16 February 2001	2 May 2003	2 years, 75 days	Royal Navy	Baron Boyce	[32]
18		Walker, MichaelGeneral SirMichael Walker (born 1944) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	2 May 2003	28 April 2006	2 years, 361 days	British Army	Baron Walker of Aldringham	[33]
19		Stirrup, JockAir Chief Marshal SirGraham "Jock" Stirrup (born 1949) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	28 April 2006	29 October 2010	4 years, 184 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Stirrup of Marylebone	[34]
20		Richards, DavidGeneral SirDavid Richards (born 1952) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	29 October 2010	18 July 2013	2 years, 271 days	British Army	Baron Richards of Herstmonceux	[35][36]
21		Houghton, NickGeneral SirNicholas Houghton (born 1954) Previously served as theVice-Chief of the Defence Staff	18 July 2013	14 July 2016	2 years, 362 days	British Army	Baron Houghton of Richmond	[37][38]
22		Houghton, NickAir Chief Marshal SirStuart Peach (born 1956) Previously served as the Vice-Chief of the Defence Staff	14 July 2016	11 June 2018	1 year, 332 days	Royal Air Force	Baron Peach	[39]
23		Houghton, NickGeneral SirNicholas Carter (born 1959) Previously served as the Chief of the General Staff	11 June 2018	30 November 2021	3 years, 172 days	British Army	None	[40]
24		Radakin, TonyAdmiral SirTony Radakin (born 1965) Previously served as the First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff	30 November 2021	2 September 2025	3 years, 276 days	Royal Navy	None	[41]
25		Knighton, RichardAir Chief Marshal SirRichard Knighton (born 1969) Previously served as the Chief of the Air Staff	2 September 2025	Incumbent	82 days	Royal Air Force	Incumbent	[42]

Customarily, former Chiefs of Defence Staff receive alife peerage on retirement,^[b] sitting in theHouse of Lords asnon-political crossbench peers. Their appointment is recommended not via theHouse of Lords Appointments Commission as is normal procedure, but is instead nominated directly to the monarch by theprime minister, who elects to nominate "a limited number of distinguished public servants" on retirement for a peerage. Sir Jock Stirrup was introduced to the House of Lords on 1 February 2010 asBaron Stirrup, of Marylebone in the City of Westminster.^[35][43][44]

• Head of the British Armed Forces

• Carver, Michael (1989).Out of Step: The Memoirs of Field Marshal Lord Carver. London: Hutchinson.ISBN 0-09173-985-3.
• Heathcote, Tony (2002).The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734–1995. Havertown: Pen & Sword.ISBN 0-85052-835-6.
• Richards, David (2014).Taking Command. London: Headline.ISBN 1-47222-084-6.

• Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
• British military appointments
• Chiefs of defence
• Chiefs of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)

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