Military profile
France Military Strength
France ranks #9 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 205,000 active personnel. It spent $68.0 billion on its military in 2025 (2.0% of GDP).
France armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 205,000#21 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 35,000#57 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 175,000#16 of 145
- Army personnel
- 142,000#28 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 40,500#18 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 44,000#17 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 1,004#10 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 226#12 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 0#65 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 438#8 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 69#9 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 222#58 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 90#39 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 12#96 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 13#83 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 1#6 of 113
- Destroyers
- 10#7 of 113
- Frigates
- 11#12 of 113
- Corvettes
- 0#47 of 113
- Submarines
- 9#12 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 15#59 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 17#7 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $68.0 billion#9 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 2.0%#62 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $2.83 trillion#10 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
France military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of France grew by 31% between 2010 and 2025, from $52.1 billion to $68.0 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 2.0% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of France
Branches and forces
French Armed Forces (Forces Armées Françaises): Army (l'Armee de Terre; includes Foreign Legion), Navy (Marine Nationale), Air and Space Force (l'Armee de l’Air et de l’Espace); includes Air Defense), National Guard (Garde Nationale), National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale) (2025)
Personnel
approximately 200,000 active duty Armed Forces; approximately 150,000 National Gendarmerie; approximately 80,000 National Guard (2025)
Service age and conscription
generally 17-30 years of age for both men and women with some variations by service, position, and enlisted versus officer; 17-40 for National Gendarmerie; basic service contract is for 12 months; no conscription (abolished 2001) (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the French military's inventory consists mostly of domestically produced weapons systems, including some jointly produced with other European countries; there is a smaller mix of armaments from other Western countries, particularly the US; France has a large and sophisticated defense industry capable of manufacturing the full spectrum of air, land, and naval military weapons systems (2025)
Deployments abroad
France typically has up to 30,000 total air, ground, and naval forces deployed on permanent or temporary foreign missions; up to 10,000 are permanently deployed, including Djibouti (1,500); French Guyana (2,600); French Polynesia (1,000); French West Indies (1,000); Reunion Island (2,100); UAE (800) other non-permanent deployments include military missions under NATO, the EU, and the UN, as well as some unilateral operations, in such places as Europe, Africa, and the Middle East and adjacent waters (2025)
Good to know
the French military has a global footprint and a wide range of missions and responsibilities, to include protecting French territory, population, and interests, and fulfilling France’s commitments to NATO, European security, and international peacekeeping operations under the UN; it is the largest military in the EU and has a leading role in the EU security framework, as well as in NATO; in recent years, it has actively participated in coalition peacekeeping and other security operations in regions such as Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, often in a lead role; the military regularly conducts large-scale exercises and participates in a variety of bi-lateral and multinational exercises; it also has a domestic security mission, including providing enhanced security at sensitive sites and large events and support during national crises or disasters, such as fighting forest fires; in recent years, defense responsibilities have expanded to include cyber and space domains in 2010, France and the UK signed a declaration on defense and security cooperation that included greater military interoperability and a Combined Joint Expeditionary Force (CJEF), a deployable, combined Anglo-French military force for use in a wide range of crisis scenarios, including high intensity operations, peacekeeping, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance; the CJEF has no standing forces, but would be available at short notice for French-UK bilateral, NATO, EU, UN, or other operations (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2025: 2.1% · 2024: 2% · 2023: 1.9% · 2022: 1.9% · 2021: 1.9%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).
France compared with its neighbours
| Country | Strength rank | Military spending |
|---|---|---|
| France | #9 | $68.0 billion |
 Spain | #21 | $40.2 billion |
 Belgium | #68 | $14.5 billion |
 Switzerland | #44 | $7.6 billion |
 Italy | #10 | $48.1 billion |
 Germany | #25 | $113.6 billion |
 Luxembourg | #126 | $855 million |