A former Ministry of Defence special adviser has said David Cameron gave a "personal assurance" that defence spending would increase after 2015.
Luke Coffey said the pledge during talks on cuts in 2010 had made it easier to swallow a "difficult pill".
Former army chief Gen Sir Peter Wall said Mr Cameron had promised increased spending when the economy improved.
The government's commitment to the Nato target of spending 2% of GDP on defence only covers this Parliament.
Earlier this week, the Royal United Services Institute said it was inevitable that UK defence spending would fall below that level - and warned that 30,000 more military personnel could lose their jobs whoever won the general election.
The prime minister said that the equipment budget would grow in real terms, and that further reductions in regular forces were not necessary - but added that "you can't have strong defence without a strong economy".
'Backlash avoided'Mr Coffey, who was special adviser to then Defence Secretary Liam Fox, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the commitment made in 2010 had helped avoid a major backlash by senior military figures against cuts at that time.
"That's what made this difficult pill to swallow that much easier," he said.
"The service chiefs and the ministers at the time knew that in order to take these cuts today, they are going to have to have long-term growth into the future and this was the agreement."
Sir Peter said he had understood no further spending cuts would follow those announced five years ago.
He said the "significant reduction" in the defence budget had been made "against the expectation and an undertaking that the budget would increase when the economy started to turn the corner and improve".
"An undertaking from the prime minister, between the prime minister and the defence secretary in which the chiefs of staff were involved," he said.
Concern over cutsMeanwhile, the Financial Times has reported that Downing Street is seeking to "pad out" defence spending by looking to include other areas of expenditure.
It said that Mr Cameron had asked ministers to investigate whether the budget for the country's intelligence agencies could be included towards the Nato target.
UKIP's defence spokesman Mike Hookem MEP said this would be a "simply dangerous" move and that a further drop in spending would "significantly reduce" the Army's operational ability.
The latest contributions to the debate follow concern from senior US diplomat Samantha Power over cuts to defence budgets in Europe.
Chief of Staff General Raymond Odierno, the head of the US army, has also voiced his reservations about the falling proportion of the UK's national wealth being spent on the military.
Of the 28 countries in Nato, just four, including Britain, meet the Nato target of spending 2% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on defence.
At a Nato summit in Wales in September, Mr Cameron said all members would halt any decline in defence spending and move towards the 2% target over the next decade.
The UK government has committed to the 2% spending target until the end of this Parliament, but there has been no commitment beyond that from either the Conservatives or Labour.
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