UK spends $300Bln over 10 years on strengthening defense capabilities

David Cameron said that London will allocate $300 billion over the next ten years to strengthen its defense capabilities.

London will allocate about 200 billion pounds ($300 billion) over the next ten years to strengthen its defense capabilities, including for the fight against terrorism, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said.

“We cannot leave the burden and risks of protecting our country to others,” Cameron said in an article for The Telegraph.

The funds will be allocated to buying and maintaining equipment, including doubling the investments in equipment to support the Special Forces, Cameron said in the article.

“We will establish two additional Typhoon squadrons and an additional squadron of F35 Lightning combat aircraft to operate from our new aircraft carriers. And we will invest in nine maritime patrol aircraft to protect our nuclear deterrent, hunt down hostile submarines and enhance our maritime search and rescue,” the British leader said.

The statement comes as the British parliament is scheduled to vote on starting an aerial campaign against the Islamic State (ISIL) jihadists in Syria in December. If the parliament supports Cameron’s proposal to launch the airstrikes on the militants’ Syrian positions, the bombing may start within hours from the decision, according to media reports.

ISIL, a radical Sunni group, has ceased vast areas in Iraq and Syria, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. The group claimed responsibility for the November 13 terrorist attacks in Paris that killed over 120 people.

Britain has been carrying out airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIL) jihadists in Iraq since August 2014, but the UK Parliament has so far rejected to extend the campaign to Syria.