BRITAIN is set to splurge an estimated £787 million on air-to-ground missiles from the US.

The US State Department announced on Tuesday that it had approved a request from Britain to buy 3,000 AGM-179 missiles from arms giant Lockheed Martin. 

The sale is part of a package of weaponry that will also be delivered to Nato allies Finland and Lithuania.

The sale has a potential overall price tag of £1.2 billion, with Britain shelling out the most.

The missiles will likely be used on Britain’s fleet of AH-64E Apaches, according to the UK Defence Journal.

The 3 Regiment Army Air Corps, based at Wattisham Airfield in Suffolk, tested the model yesterday in exercise Iron Titan, involving 8,000 troops.

Apache helicopters have previously been used by the British military in Libya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.

Stop the War Coalition national organiser Mayer Wakefield condemned the military’s exorbitant expenditure.

He said: “The only real beneficiary of this transaction is the manufacturer of these Hellfire missiles – US weapons giant Lockheed Martin.

“Ploughing close to $1bn into weapons of mass destruction at a time when our overburdened NHS teeters on the verge of collapse and our schools crumble is simply inexcusable. This is a horrendous waste of taxpayers’ money.

“The use of such weapons will only cause more instability around the world, not less.

“It’s high time Britain began to prioritise peaceful solutions to the world’s problems.

“Unfortunately deals like this demonstrate an Establishment addicted to war and conflict.”