Osborne set for defence spending spree

George Osborne is on a spending spree. Yes. THAT George Osborne.

He's got the cheque book out and he's buying new defence kit. The Government have not been shy about briefing the big measures in today's Defence Review and there are three more big spends being announced this morning;

Nine new Maritime Patrol Aircraft

The Government will buy the Boeing P8 aircraft 'off the shelf' to plug one of the biggest gaps left by the last review, which scrapped the bespoke Nimrod program.

Two more Typhoon squadrons

The lifespan of the first tranche of Typhoons will be extended meaning, ultimately, there will be more of them.

Two new 'Strike Brigades'

These are rapidly deployable army units to be armed with the new Scout armoured vehicles.

When you add this to the Chancellor's announcement yesterday of 24 F-35 stealth fighter/bombers by 2023 (rising eventually to 138 in all), plus the extra spending on Special Forces and the Intelligence Services, it's no wonder they want to make a song and dance about it.

The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review was a brutal cost saving exercise that left holes in the defences and infuriated the forces. The 2015 Review will be remembered, the government hopes, for £178 billion investment in defence.

The Prime Minister will boast that "the United Kingdom is the only major country in the world today which is simultaneously going to meet the NATO target of spending 2% of our GDP on defence and the UN target of spending 0.7% of our GNI on development".

Expect the warm glow to last until approximately Wednesday when the Chancellor reverts to form and announces his next round of cuts.