David Cameron will announce two new 5,000-strong strike brigades for rapid deployment missions as a central feature of the government’s latest strategic defence review. He will also promise a £12bn increase in the equipment budget, taking total spending to £178bn on defence equipment and support over the next decade.

In a foreword to the review due to be launched by Cameron himself, the prime minister states: “At its [the strategy] heart is an understanding that we cannot choose between conventional defences against state-based threats and the need to counter threats that do not recognise national borders. Today we face both and we must respond to both.”



The boost to defence spending comes alongside a commitment to increase the counter-terrorism budget by 30%, which will fund a range of measures including an additional operations centre to allow MI5 to react more quickly to threats in the UK.

The last defence review in 2010 is largely remembered for massive spending cuts and the new review will contain a commitment to plug gaps in the UK’s capability, including new aircraft to fly from the country’s two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers currently being built by a consortium including BAE systems.

The new strike brigades are due to be ready in 2025 and are intended to project UK power, with the capability to deploy thousands of kilometres away. Each brigade will use the new Scout range of vehicles and also have access to 600 armoured vehicles.

Cameron will also announce on Monday the purchase of nine new Boeing P8 maritime patrol aircraft for surveillance, anti-submarine and anti-surface ship warfare. They will replace the Nimrod aircraft scrapped in 2010 that left a glaring hole in the ability to detect enemy submarines in UK waters, such as at the entry point to the submarine base in Faslane.

They will be designed to protect Trident submarines and the two new aircraft carriers. The maritime aircraft has been a specific request of the Royal Navy after the loss of Nimrod. These roles require an aircraft that can carry torpedoes as well as being fitted with a broad range of sensors, including radar and sonobuoys that are operated from the rear of the cabin by a team of specialists. These aircraft will also provide maritime search and rescue and surveillance capabilities over land.

The prime minister will also extend the life of the UK’s Typhoon aircraft for an 10 extra years through to 2040, allowing the creation of two additional squadrons. This will mean a total of seven frontline squadrons, consisting of around 12 aircraft per squadron.

Fitted with a new active electronically scanned array radar to ensure they can continue to operate in hostile environments in the future, the Typhoons will continue at least until the generation of F-35 joint strike fighters become operational. There is also expected to be an increase in the number of sailors to run the two new aircraft carriers due to be operational by the end of the parliament.

Cameron will make a point of emphasising that the UK is one of the few Nato countries to meet its commitment to spend 2% of GDP on defence. Setting out the case for extra spending, Cameron says in a forward to the five-yearly review: “This is vital at a time when the threats to our country are growing. From the rise of Isil [Islamic State] and greater instability in the Middle East, to the crisis in Ukraine, the threat of cyber attacks and the risk of pandemics, the world is more dangerous and uncertain today than five years ago.

“So while every government must choose how to spend the money it has available, every penny of which is hard-earned by taxpayers, this government has taken a clear decision to invest in our security and safeguard our prosperity.”

Cameron has already said the review will include £2bn over the next five years to bolster Britain’s special forces for the fight against extremist groups such as Isis. It will also double its Reaper drone fleet by 2020. George Osborne also announced a 30% increase in counter-terror spending, saying it will rise from the £11.7bn number set out in the summer budget to £15.1bn.

The Treasury said the cash will also be used for what it described as a national digital exploitation service “to enable the processing of seized phones, computers and devices for evidence and intelligence leads, improving police and intelligence agencies’ ability to identify and disrupt potential attacks and prosecute terrorists”. Capability to collect internet communications records will also be funded.

Some of the money will be used to upgrade technology and increase border police, but it will also allow enable a fusion of intelligence with the armed forced making it easier to take action against terrorists in hostile operating environments.