Transgender people could serve in the British infantry in close combat roles, according to a senior officer responsible for personnel.

The role of women in close combat is still under review but lieutenant general Andrew Gregory, deputy chief of defence staff (personnel and training) acknowledged that men who became women might be eligible for such roles.

Gregory said in an interview with PinkNews: “We have [transgender people] serving as I’m sure you know. We do not yet have any … transgender [women] serving in the infantry. We haven’t had to address it because we haven’t had the issue come up.

“It would be a very interesting test case if it did come up. If somebody, birth gender male, who physically has all the physical strength and durability but had transitioned, they might well be able.”

The issue of transgender people serving in the armed forces is seldom aired in British defence circles. In the US, although the Obama administration has ended a ban on gay men and lesbians openly serving in the military, its position on transgender people is ambiguous.

Defence secretary Michael Fallon announced in December that women could, in principle, serve in roles that involve close combat but a final decision would have to await research into whether women could complete required physical tests, such as carrying heavy loads over long distances.

Fallon’s caveat would not be relevant in the case of a man who had served in the infantry and transitioned to become a woman. But women transitioning to become men would still find themselves barred at present.

The MoD said: “The review process into women in combat roles is ongoing. No decisions have been made. It would be wrong for the department to comment further at this stage.”

Women do serve in dangerous, hostile situations at present, from bomb-disposal to accompanying infantrymen on patrols as medics. The issue is whether they can serve in close combat: engaging at close quarters with an enemy and killing them.

In the interview, Gregory said women are excluded from the infantry, the armoured corps, the Royal Marines and the Royal Air Force regiment who conduct a ground-based role of guarding airfields and other tasks.

The reason for the research, he told PinkNews, is “because of the physiological difference between men and women – hip configuration, bone muscle density. Some women will be able to pass the entrance test for the infantry, not many but some will. But we do not know what the long term physiological effects (will be) on their bodies of constantly carrying brutally heavy loads, 70-80 kilos, over long periods. That is the research going on, because we have a duty of care.”

Women are under-represented in defence, currently amounting to only about 10% of people serving in the armed forces.

“The system isn’t fair because it is designed by men, run by men and the boards are male, so when they are reading reports that are primarily written by men who don’t necessarily understand the way a woman might react to a set of circumstances, they see a reaction as a weakness and therefore they report in that way. So it isn’t fair,” said Gregory.