By current standards, Washington funds about 70 percent of NATO spending. Italy is in Afghanistan,” said one senior European NATO diplomat. It aims to reverse a trend that saw defence research spending in the European Union fall by a third, or more than 20 billion euros, since 2006. Spurred on by Britain's decision to leave the European Union, Germany and France are leading plans to build a so-called European Defence Union that would allow countries to develop and share military assets together, as well as deploying troops. Governments spent in isolation and missed out on savings worth 25 billion euros a year, according to EU data.

Source: Sunday Times February 21, 2017 14:18 UTC