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Britain will be unable in future to mount operations on the scale of the current intervention in Afghanistan or the invasion of Iraq, the Government has disclosed as it set out plans to cut spending on the armed forces.
David Cameron confirmed that warships, fast jet fighters and thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen would face the axe as he unveiled details of the Strategic Defence and Security Review in the House of Commons.
Under the revised planning assumptions in the SDSR, the forces will be able to mount one enduring brigade-level operation, with up to 6,500 personnel, compared to the 10,000 currently deployed in Afghanistan, plus two smaller interventions.
Alternatively they will be able to mount a one-off, timed-limited major intervention - "with sufficient warning" - of up to three brigades with around 30,000 personnel - two thirds of the force deployed to Iraq in 2003.
Mr Cameron also announced a scaling back of the Trident nuclear deterrent, cutting the stockpile of warheads from 160 to 120 and the maximum number of warheads on each submarine from 48 to 40.
He confirmed the key "main gate" decision on the renewal of the missile-carrying submarine fleet would be put back until after the general election in 2016 - leaving open the possibility that it could be abandoned by a future government.
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Mr Cameron told the Commons that while the UK needed to retain the ability to mount operations overseas, strategy had become "over-reliant on military intervention" and that in future the emphasis would be on preventing conflicts.
"Britain has punched above its weight in the world and we should have no less ambition for our country in the decades to come," he said.
"But we need to be more thoughtful, more strategic and more co-ordinated in the way we advance our interests and protect our national security."
However the SDSR was dismissed by Labour leader Ed Miliband as a cost-cutting exercise which failed to address the security needs of the country.
