LMT Lockheed Martin Corp

By Nicholas Winning 

LONDON--Britain will boost its defense-equipment budget by 7% to GBP178 billion ($270 billion) for the next 10 years, Prime Minister David Cameron is due to say Monday as he prepares to step up the case this week for the U.K. to join the U.S. and others in carrying out airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria.

The prime minister is due to set out the U.K. government's military priorities for the years ahead in two documents, the National Security Strategy and the Strategic Defense and Security Review. As part of those plans, Mr. Cameron will also say the increase in funding for military equipment would go toward a range of projects including nine new maritime patrol aircraft, extending the life of the Typhoon jet fighter, and the creation of two new rapidly deployable brigades by 2025.

Ahead of the release of the two military-strategy documents, the government also confirmed on Sunday that it planned to buy 138 Lockheed Martin F-35 jet fighters and aims to have 24 in operation by 2023, although it declined to give cost or other details. The number is larger and the rollout is sooner than many had expected.

In an apparent turnaround from the 2010 defense review, in which the emphasis was on sharp reductions in spending and military personnel to trim the U.K.'s budget deficit, Mr. Cameron is due to say in the foreword to this review that Britain's renewed economic strength means the country can now afford to invest further in national security.

"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 cyberattacks and the risk of pandemics, the world is more dangerous and uncertain today than five years ago," he will say, according to advanced extracts provided by his office.

It remains to be seen if Monday's defense strategy convinces observers that the U.K. has the muscle to take a significant role in global affairs. The U.K. government's defense cuts over the last five years have been so severe that some U.S. officials have raised concerns that Britain's military capability is being curtailed at a time of increased global conflict and instability.

Those questions were answered in part in the summer when the U.K. government committed to meeting the North Atlantic Treaty Organization target of spending at least 2% of national income on defense a year. U.K. Treasury Chief George Osborne is due to set out the government's autumn update on its economic plans and its outlook for departmental spending on Wednesday.

The government's latest update on military strategy comes amid a surge in international diplomatic activity to step up the fight against the Islamic State militant group in the wake of attacks in Paris that left more than 100 people dead. The United Nations on Friday unanimously passed a counterterrorism resolution that authorizes the use of military force against Islamic State and the related al-Nusra Front.

Mr. Cameron is due to meet French President François Hollande on Monday morning to discuss counterterrorism cooperation and the fight against Islamic State. Later in the week, the prime minister is due to urge the U.K. parliament to approve extending the Royal Air Force's bombing campaign against Islamic State to Syria from Iraq where it has been bombing the group for more than a year, although Mr. Cameron and other senior ministers have said the government won't hold a vote on the issue until it is confident it has the support of lawmakers.

The prime minister suffered a stinging parliamentary defeat in 2013 on a proposal for military intervention in Syria following allegations that President Bashar al-Assad's regime used chemical weapons on civilians. The opposition Labour Party voted against the action, but others also voiced concerns that Britain's intervention was unnecessary or could make matters worse.

Some of those concerns remain, and the issue has been complicated further by Russia's military intervention in Syria, a renewed international diplomatic push to end the Syrian civil war, and a new Labour leader who is set against Western military intervention in the Middle East. However, Mr. Cameron said last week that the Paris attacks had strengthened the case for Britain to join airstrikes in Syria.

The British prime minister has argued that the U.K. faces a direct and growing threat from Islamic State that it needs to deal with not just in Iraq, but also in Syria, where the group is based. While the U.K. is already supporting allies conducting strikes against Syria by providing intelligence and surveillance, it should be doing more and shouldn't expect others to carry the risk of protecting Britain, he has said.

As part of the new military strategy plans to be announced Monday, Mr. Cameron is due to say the government will extend the life of Typhoon jet fighter for 10 years to 2040, boosting the number of squadrons by two to a total of seven with about 12 aircraft each. It will also buy nine new Boeing P8 maritime patrol aircraft for surveillance, anti-submarine and anti-surface ship warfare, covering a blind spot in capability since the government phased out the Nimrod aircraft in 2011.

The prime minister is also slated to announce plans for the creation of two "Strike Brigades" by 2025, comprising as many as 5,000 men each and including 600 armored vehicles, which will be able to deploy rapidly.

Stepping up counterterrorism efforts are also set to be a key theme in the defense reviews, including more funds to boost manpower at Britain's intelligence agencies and GBP2 billion for new equipment for special forces. The government confirmed Sunday that it planned to increase counterterrorism spending by 30% in real terms over the course of the five-year parliament ending in 2020 to GBP15.1 billion.

Write to Nicholas Winning at nick.winning@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 22, 2015 19:15 ET (00:15 GMT)

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