Loading ...By Telegraph Reporter
10:30AM GMT 24 Mar 2015
Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, will announce plans to bolster the Falkland Islands garrison amid fears of a renewed threat from Argentina.
The south American nation is feared to be increasing military expenditure. Senior ministers in the country have also made a series of increasingly aggressive statements about the islands in recent years.
Michale Fallon said: “The threat remains. It is a very live threat. We have to respond to it.”
He said reports that Russia is working on an agreement to lease 12 long-range bombers to Argentina which could be used to support a renewed attack are unconfirmed.
“We do need to modernise our defences to ensure that we have sufficient troops there and that the islands are properly defended in terms of air defence and maritime defence.
“The threat, of course, to the islands remains but so does our commitment to being absolutely clear that islanders have the right to remain British and the right to proper protection by our forces.