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Britain to treble firepower of two aircraft carriers, increase anti-terror budget: finance minister

Xinhua, November 22, 2015 Adjust font size:

Britain will treble firepower of its two new aircraft carriers by 2023 by investing in F-35 stealth fighter jets, British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne tweeted on Sunday.

"By 2023, we will be able to have 24 of these jets, some of the most powerful in the world, the F-35, on the decks of these carriers," Osborne told Reuters.

Osborne said on Twitter the move would put Britain second only to the U.S. in carrier aircraft capability.

The move will be part of Monday's Strategic Defence and Security Review.

He also announced the British government would invest more than 15 billion pounds(22.79 billion U.S. dollars) over the next five years to fight terror threat at home and abroad.

British Prime Minister David Cameron is pushing for parliamentary backing for air strikes against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria, and British lawmakers are expected to vote on the matter within the next two weeks.

The first British strikes in Syria would happen within hours of a "yes" vote, according to local media.

Cameron is preparing a seven-point plan for British military intervention in Syria, the newspaper quoted Downing Street sources as saying. Endit