NATO urges less reliance on US arms

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has urged European allies to reduce reliance on the United States for cutting-edge weapons, suggesting the idea of ‘smart defense’.

“I am concerned about the low level of defense spending, especially in Europe,” Rasmussen addressed a seminar in the Spanish Senate on “NATO and the Mediterranean, the change ahead.”

The secretary general also offered the idea of ‘smart defense’ and called on NATO member states to lay out the most efficient spending strategy, AP reported on Thursday.

“Many nations are unable to provide some of the high-tech equipment we need. If we encourage them to adopt multilateral solutions then they will be able to field capabilities together that they can’t afford alone,” he said.

Rasmussen said that NATO’s Libya operation has exposed NATO’s reliance on US advanced ordnance.

On Tuesday, General Stephane Abrial, a senior NATO commander, warned of a possible shortage of resources if the war against embattled Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi drags on.

Defense budgets “cannot be exempted from cuts but I see a real risk that European allies will fall even further behind the pace of technological progress,” Rasmussen pointed out.

Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has predicted a dim future for NATO if European allies fail to allocate sufficient defense budgets.

NATO was established in 1949 as a US-led bulwark against the Soviet Union, but in the post-Cold War era it has struggled to find a purpose. The US funds 25 percent of the 28-nation alliance’s military budget.