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LONDON, Oct 21 (AFP) - Defence budget figures for the European members of NATO, evaluated as a group, and the United States reveal that the US military readiness is stronger than ever, according to a study published Thursday by the IISS think-tank.
"The continuing decline in European procurement is raising concerns that the NATO European defence capability is becoming increasingly inferior to that of the United States," said the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies in its annual report.
The institute said that despite Europe's efforts to improve its military readiness, its ability to conduct major combined-arms operations independently remains "a distant prospect."
The US defence budget, which combines the Pentagon's budget with the Department of Energy's defence procurement, totaled about 276.2 billion dollars (255.7 billion euros) in 1999, and is projected to reach 280.8 billion dollars (260 billion euros) in 2000.
US arms spending in 2000-2005 will be largely dedicated to the modernization of existing equipment, with the air force as the biggest recipient of federal funds.
The acquisition of Joint Strike Fighter jets, the strengthening of the B-2 bomber fleet (with 20 planes expected by July 2000 at a cost of 1.3 billion dollars each), and the replacement of F-15s by F-22s are some examples of planned changes in US military might.
"With procurement of more modern weapons set to reach nearly 62 billion dollars in 2001, there is little doubt that the US will retain, and increase, its lead in the quality of deployed weapons and military technology," the IISS report said.
On the European side, global defence spending in 1999 was 140 billion dollars (129 billion euros), or less than half of the US budget.
The European military research and development budget was nine billion dollars (8.3 billion euros), just a quarter of what the US spent in the same period.
Arms spending in the European NATO countries totaled 27.9 million dollars (25.8 million euros) in 1999, down from 30 million dollars (27.8 million euros) in 1996.
IISS experts said "it seems unlikely that current procurement commitments can be sustained under existing budget plans."
"The Europeans appear to have no collective plans to address the growing capability gap," the institute concluded.
The euro's current weakness has the double effect of diminishing European buying power, making the purchase of US technology "more expensive at the moment it is most needed," and making European defence exports more competitive.
This "gives the incentive to make defence exports a policy priority rather than make unpopular decisions on defence budget increases," the think-tank said in its analysis.