Five former chiefs of the defence staff warned of "blood on the floor" at the MoD because of inadequate funding.
Admiral Lord Boyce said the prime minister had treated the armed services with "contempt" and "disinterest".
'Lack of judgement'
The former defence chiefs spoke during a Lords debate, in which there were calls to improve levels of military funding.
Admiral Lord Boyce criticised a decision to give Des Browne the jobs of both defence secretary and Scottish secretary.
Lord Boyce said: "It is seen as an insult by our sailors, our soldiers and our airmen on the front line.
"And I know because I have reason to speak to them a lot. And it is certainly a demonstration of the disinterest and some might say contempt that the prime minister and his government has for our armed forces.
"And it shows an appalling lack of judgement at a time when our people are being killed and they are being maimed."
General Lord Guthrie blamed the prime minister for "the very serious situation we find the services in today".
Marshal of the RAF Lord Craig of Radley asked whether it was "immoral to commit forces that are underprepared and ill-equipped for their task?"
Further criticisms were levelled by Field Marshals Lord Bramall and Lord Inge.
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Lord Gilbert called Mr Brown's failure to thank troops in the Queen's Speech "quite extraordinary".
"I think it showed a great insensitivity not only to the morale of the troops but to their families as well," he told BBC Two's Newsnight programme.
The Lords' concerted action follows months of concern from organisations such as the Royal British Legion that the UK's armed forces are over-stretched and under-funded for the missions they are being asked to carry out in Iraq and Afghanistan.
They point out that during the early 1980s the government spent almost 5% of GDP on defence but today the figure is closer to 2.5%.
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