Budget 2008: Defence

The government will spend an additional £2bn supporting troops on the frontline, Alistair Darling has announced.

The chancellor said the money would include £900m spent on military equipment.

And during his Budget statement in the Commons, he paid tribute to servicemen and women, saying he was "deeply proud" of their work.

The announcement came days after the Commons defence committee revealed that the combined cost of military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq had almost doubled to £3bn a year.

The costs are more than 50 per cent more than the government forecast three months ago.

The sharpest increases were for buying, repairing and replacing new armoured vehicles and other equipment.

Defence secretary Des Browne arrived in Basra on Wednesday morning on an unannounced visit to Iraq.