Chancellor George Osborne told the BBC that as a result of the government's new Strategic Defense and Security Review, by 2023 the UK will have 24 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft, and two new aircraft carriers.
In the summer, the chancellor pledged to increase defense spending above inflation to meet the NATO target of 2 percent of GDP each year on defense, up to 2020.
The British press reported on Sunday that over a longer period of time, the UK's Royal Air Force will order 138 of the F-35 fighter jets.
The UK is also expected to purchase new reconnaissance planes, reversing an earlier decision in 2010 to scrap the latest generation of Nimrod maritime surveillance aircraft.
Huge pre-SDSR exclusive from @davidwilletts3 — we're hunting a Russian submarine off Britain https://t.co/WImah5KrTZ
— Ali Kefford (@akefford) November 22, 2015
The announcement of the extra investment in the surveillance planes comes as the UK's armed forces are being assisted by French, Canadian and US patrol aircraft, on a fruitless search for a Russian submarine reportedly spotted in its waters ten days ago.
