France Military - 2024

Military and security 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 (Reserves), National Gendarmerie (2024)

note: under the direction of the Ministry of the Interior, the civilian National Police and the National Gendarmerie maintain internal security; the National Gendarmerie is a paramilitary police force that is a branch of the Armed Forces and therefore part of the Ministry of Defense but under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior; it also has additional duties to the Ministry of Justice; the Gendarmerie includes the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (Groupe d'intervention de la Gendarmerie Nationale or GIGN), an elite national-level tactical police unit set up in 1973 in response to the 1972 Munich massacre

Military expenditures

1.9% of GDP (2023 est.)
1.9% of GDP (2022)
1.9% of GDP (2021)
2% of GDP (2020)
1.8% of GDP (2019)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 210,000 active-duty troops (120,000 Army; 35,000 Navy; 40,000 Air Force; 15,000 other, such as joint staffs, administration, logistics, procurement, medical service, etc.); approximately 100,000 National Gendarmerie; approximately 75,000 National Guard (2023)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the French military's inventory consists mostly of domestically produced weapons systems, including some jointly produced with other European countries; there is a limited 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 (2024)

note: two major future acquisition programs for the French military included the Franco-German-Spanish Future Combat Air System, or FCAS (known in France as the système combat aérien du futur, or SCAF) and a next-generation tank development project with Germany known as the Main Ground Combat System, or MGCS

Military service age and obligation

generally 17-30 years of age for both men and women with some variations by service, position, and enlisted versus officer; basic service contract is for 12 months; no conscription (abolished 2001) (2024)

note 1: in 2023, women comprised more than 16% of the uniformed armed forces 

note 2: French citizens can also volunteer for the Voluntary Military Service (VMS), which allows unemployed youth aged 18-25 to learn a trade or gain work experience while receiving basic military training and sports activities; French citizens may also joint the military operational reserve up to age 72

note 3: men between the ages of 17.5 and 39.5 years of age, of any nationality, may join the French Foreign Legion; those volunteers selected for service sign five-year contracts

Military deployments

approximately 300 Central African Republic; 300 Comoros; approximately 1,400 Djibouti; 300 Estonia (NATO); approximately 2,000 French Guyana; approximately 900 French Polynesia; approximately 1,000 French West Indies; approximately 500 Middle East (Iraq/Jordan/Syria); 650 Lebanon (UNIFIL); approximately 1,400 New Caledonia; approximately 1,700 Reunion Island; approximately 800 Romania (NATO); approximately 2,500-3,000 West Africa (Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, Senegal); approximately 650 United Arab Emirates (2023)

note: in response to Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, some NATO countries, including France, have sent additional troops to the battlegroups deployed in NATO territory in eastern Europe

Military - note

the French military is a large, experienced, and professional force with a long history, a global footprint, and a wide range of missions and responsibilities; it operates under France’s overall defense and national security strategy, currently defined through the five major strategic functions of anticipation, prevention, deterrence, protection, and intervention; the military’s responsibilities 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, frequently taking a lead role in these operations; the military has more than 30,000 troops deployed worldwide and 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 

the first permanent French Army was established in the 15th century; the French Army (or Land Army) today has 12 divisional-level commands, which includes commands for aviation and special forces and two combat divisions comprised of six brigades of airborne, armored, light armored, marine infantry, and mountain infantry forces, as well as a bi-national Franco-German mechanized brigade; the Army also has some garrison units for France’s overseas possessions

the French Navy (created in 1626) operates worldwide and conducts missions ranging from policing illegal fishing to combat operations involving air and missile strikes; it is a key component of France’s nuclear deterrent; the Navy is organized into a surface force, a submarine and strategic force, naval aviation, a marine and commando force, and a maritime gendarmerie; its principal warships include an aircraft carrier, about 20 destroyers or frigates of various types, six ocean-going patrol ships, three helicopter carrier/amphibious assault ships, six nuclear-powered attack submarines, and four nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (note – France became a nuclear power in 1960)

French military aviation was officially established in 1912 although its roots go back to the formation of a military balloon unit in 1794; France was the first country to categorize air squadrons into fighter, bomber, and reconnaissance types; the current Air and Space Force is organized into commands for air, air defense, space, and strategic operations; it has over 550 fixed and rotary wing aircraft, including about 200 domestically made fighters and multipurpose fighter aircraft

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, up to and including high intensity combat operations; the CJEF has no standing forces, but would be available at short notice for French-UK bilateral, NATO, EU, UN, or other operations; combined training exercises began in 2011; as of 2020, the CJEF was assessed as having full operating capacity with the ability to rapidly deploy over 10,000 personnel capable of high intensity operations, peacekeeping, disaster relief, and humanitarian assistance

the French Foreign Legion, established in 1831, is a military force that is open to foreign recruits willing to serve in the French military for service in France and abroad; the Foreign Legion is an integrated part of the French Army and is comprised of approximately 8,000 personnel; its combat units are a mix of armored cavalry and airborne, light, mechanized, and motorized infantry regiments (2023)