Allies ‘less economic’

Press, 12 July 1980, Page 9

Allies ‘less economic’

NZPA-Reuter Washington : The United States and its j European allies are out- 1 spending the Communist bloc on defence but they are ' vetting less for their money < and are in danger of becom- 1 ing militarily inferior, -the 1 Pentagon has said. t • The Defence Department s < spokesman, Thomas Ross, 1 said a report issued by the < liberal Centre for Defence! 1 Information was essentially correct, although it might have overstated the gap be-1J tween the North Atlantic:) Treatv Organisation and,: Warsaw Pact spending. p The report said that thej United States and its) N.A.T.O. allies spent at least 1

$215 billion for defence last year, compared to $175-bil-lion by the Soviet Union and its partners. Mr Ross commented that there was “considerable redundancy” in N.A.T.O. efforts, despite attempts to eliminate duplication of programmes and increase standardisation. He said he did not know what percentage of N.A.T.O. defence spending iwas being used efficiently. In any case, he said, “if the Soviets continue spending 4 or 5 per cent a-year more on defence and we do not make a comparable effort with our allies, there is no doubt that in the future there will be an imbalance” in military strength.