NATO is to be revolutionised with a slimmer structure to make the organisation born in the Cold War more relevant in the 21st century.

The new structure is intended primarily to meet American concerns about the alliance’s flexibility. All Nato operations are to come under the command of a single US military chief as part of a drastic streamlining to demonstrate that it is ready to send troops at short notice to deal with any type of crisis.

With seven more countries due to be invited to join the alliance at the Nato summit in Prague on November 21, bringing total membership to 26 nations, there is a sense of urgency to ensure that the organisation does not become so unwieldy that it cannot react quickly to emergencies.

In a plan to be set out at the summit, the two most important Nato posts — Supreme Allied Commander Europe (Saceur), based at Mons in Belgium, and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (Saclant), based at Norfolk, Virginia — will be merged into one. The post of Atlantic commander will be abolished and the new overall military chief is expected to be called Strategic Commander Operations.

The set-up in Virginia will remain, but the top job will be non-operational, concerned with planning, education and military doctrine. Saclant, under the present system, is responsible for operations covering the Atlantic, North America, Iceland and Portugal. He is also in charge of reinforcements in time of war.

Eight operational headquarters are to be formed, which could be drafted in to take over managing a crisis or masterminding a campaign. A number of Nato members have been selected for running the HQs, including Italy, Turkey, Spain and a joint one involving Germany and the Netherlands. They will be expected to supplement Nato’s Allied Rapid Reaction Force HQ at Rheindalen in Germany, commanded by Britain.

European countries have agreed to start spending large sums of money on buying key equipment to improve Nato’s overall military capabilities. Lord Robertson of Port Ellen, Nato’s Secretary-General, has won promises from a number of countries to fill gaps in their capabilities. Lord Robertson told The Times that in talks with Nato ministers last week he got each to commit his government to buying or leasing specific equipment immediately.

Germany will lease several strategic-range transport aircraft, either the US C17 Globemaster or the Russian Antonov. Britain, which has four C17s under a seven-year leasing arrangement, is likely to extend the deal with Boeing.

Other members promised to buy precision-guided munitions, electronic jamming equipment and nuclear, biological and chemical protection suits.

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