America pushes for new rapid-reaction force to revive Nato's sense of purpose

America will unveil plans to revamp Nato's rapid reaction forces this week and make European countries beef up their defence spending, as part of a far-reaching strategy to rescue the 19-nation alliance from irrelevance.

The ideas – being billed as a fundamental transformation of the alliance – aim to bolster military capabilities to combat terrorism and other threats, and to shake up Nato's command structure, which dates from the Cold War.

Sidelined by Washington after 11 September, Nato has been searching for a new role and, last week, entered into a new dialogue with Russia.

Washington wants the alliance to be equipped to respond to terrorist threats in the same way the US reacted against Afghanistan. Nato must "have the capability to do what the US can do to project force in distant theatres", a senior Nato official said yesterday.

The US plan would put pressure on Nato's European members to increase capabilities, particularly in the area of heavy airlift for troops and equipment, logistical support, air-to-air refuelling, sea lift and combating weapons of mass destruction. There would also be added stress on creating more secure communications and targeting systems that could be used by forces of different nationalities.

Under a proposal to be discussed at Thursday's meeting of Nato defence ministers, individual countries or groups of countries would undertake to make specific improvements. The ministers will also debate the streamlining of Nato's command structure, which would probably mean the end of the post of Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic.

American and European officials dismissed reports yesterday that the plan could provoke tensions with the EU, which also has its own military ambitions and is setting up a rapid reaction force.

There is a reasonably clear division of responsibilities because the EU's 60,000-strong rapid reaction force is designed to perform a limited peace-keeping role. And, because so many Nato countries are in the EU, European diplomats say the Nato plan would help them equip their rapid reaction force.

Many European diplomats will be reassured that the latest US thinking reflects a new, less unilateralist consensus within President George Bush's administration. They were alarmed at Washington's preference for fighting its campaign in Afghanistan with a few, selected allies and outside Nato's structure. That instinct has been borne out of growing disparity in military might between the US and its European partners, and the Pentagon's frustrations at Nato allies during the Kosovo campaign.

US officials point out that the $48bn (£33bn) increase planned for the US defence budget in 2003 is larger than the military spending of Nato's biggest European powers, Britain and France.

But the US's unilateralist tendency has been tempered in recent months by a new stress on Nato from Washington. Last week, President Bush attended a summit in Rome that set up a body to hold regular meetings between Russia and the Nato countries. It meets for its first working session on Thursday.

In a speech in Berlin, Mr Bush said Nato needed to have "all the assets of modern defence – mobile and deployable forces, sophisticated special operations, the ability to fight under the threat of chemical and biological weapons".

He added: "We must be ready, as full military partners, to confront threats to our common security."