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Margaret Hodge, the minister for disablement, wants the Services to be liable if they exclude servicemen on the grounds that they are blind, deaf or physically impaired. The Armed Forces are currently allowed to reject recruits if they are not able-bodied. Fewer than 1,000 of the 210,000 servicemen in the Army, Royal Navy and RAF are disabled.

Speaking to The Telegraph last week, Mrs Hodge said: "I see no logical reason why the Armed Forces are not covered by legislation which protects disabled people at work. I will continue to look at their employment practices."

 Mrs Hodge chairs the Disability Rights Task Force which earlier this year questioned commanding officers on why they had failed to employ disabled people. Mrs Hodge wants the disabled to assume non-combative roles in the Forces and will discuss the proposal in a meeting with Doug Henderson, the Armed Forces minister, next month.

But senior officers are angry because traditionally they have recruited battle-ready servicemen into white-collar jobs so that they have a pool of staff who can assume combative roles during conflict.

One officer, who received a letter from Mrs Hodge's department asking how many officers suffered a disability, said: "I would have thought it was obvious why we employ very few disabled people. We are supposed to be available to move into battle at any moment and having disabled soldiers would cause problems."

Another said he was angry at the minister's interference. He said: "The Government has cut the Forces to the bare bone. They cannot expect us to employ anyone who is not able to muck in when needed."

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said last week that all military personnel are expected to be ready for battle at short notice. The employment of disabled people would require a radical shift in policy. He said: "All Service personnel remain primed for operational deployment and therefore must meet certain physical standards."

The ministry has an equal opportunities policy where more than four per cent of its 70,000 civil servants are registered as disabled. The Army, Navy and RAF are currently excluded from parts of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 - which means they can reject a potential recruit on the grounds that he or she is disabled without being liable to civil action or face an industrial tribunal.

The move for new legislation comes in the wake of last week's backbench revolt by MPs against proposed cuts in benefits for the disabled.

The Forces have traditionally found desk jobs for servicemen injured in battle - but have not set out to recruit the disabled. Ray Holland, the general secretary of the British Limbless Ex-Servicemen's Association, said that procedures were adequate.

Former senior officers said Mrs Hodge's views were ill-informed. Sir Julian Oswald, a former Admiral of the Fleet responsible for introducing women to parts of the Navy, said last week that current legislation should be adequate. He said: "All three Services have very well defined equal opportunity policies. But clearly when it comes to severe physical disabilities, opportunities in the armed services will have to be limited."

Some of Britain's greatest heroes have been disabled, including Douglas Bader the Second World War pilot who flew on missions after having both legs amputated, and Nelson, who fought at Trafalgar with one arm.

The move from Mrs Hodge comes as the American armed forces prepare to admit disabled people. Duncan Hunter, a Republican congressman from California, is pressing the Pentagon to change what he regards as outmoded standards requiring all soldiers to be able to carry a pack and slog across rough country.

Sue Pratt, a spokesman for the Royal Association for Disability and Rehabilitation, said: "We do not expect there to be blind pilots. But there are many jobs within the Armed Forces which could be done competently by disabled people."