Growing gap in US and EU R&D spending

European defence spending on research and development (R&D) remains far behind the US, according to report issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The OECD's 'Science, Technology and Industry Scoreboard 2005' indicates that, after a decline in the early 1990s, the US government's defence R&D budget "has increased as a share of GDP and reached 0.63 per cent in 2005".

The report, which is published biennially, claimed that this figure represents two and a half times the ratio for defence R&D spending in the UK and France, which respectively have the second- and third-highest ratios (about 0.24 per cent of GDP).

"In 2003," the report continued, "the United States accounted for more than 80 per cent of the overall OECD-area budget for defence R&D." This represented more than five times the EU total.

European defence industry officials are well aware of the need to address the R&D investment gap with the US. The European Defence Agency (EDA) has repeatedly called for more investment in R&D among member countries. Most recently, in a keynote address on 12 October, EDA Chief Executive Nick Whitney reiterated his desire to see European governments increase defence R&D expenditure.

"Generally speaking, I find comparisons between European and US defence expenditure lacking in much meaning," he said. "But the fact that the US puts five times as much into defence R&D as the Europeans combined is something that European defence ministries need to think about very seriously."

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