Europe is at risk of falling severely behind the US in weapons technologies unless it increases spending on military equipment and research by as much as €45bn a year, a panel appointed by Michele Alliot-Marie, the French defence minister, will warn this week.

According to people who have read the panel's report, which will be presented at a symposium attended by Ms Alliot-Marie on Wednesday, it found that spending on military hardware in the European Union is equal to only a third of the Pentagon's equipment budget, and research spending Europe-wide totals only a fifth of US outlays.