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Military power of France & Canada

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France vs Canada

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France Canada

France is a country located in

metropolitan France: Western Europe with an area of 640,679 km2 (land boundries: 3,956 km and costline 4,853 km

metropolitan France:>3,427 km). The capital of France is Paris. The number of inhabitants is 67,413,000.

France was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty, which created NATO in 1949. France and the UK signed in 2010 a declaration on defense and security cooperation that included greater military interoperability and a Combined Joint Expeditionary Force. The CJEF was assessed as having full operating capacity with the ability to rapidly deploy over 10,000 personnel. The French military's inventory consists mostly of domestically-produced weapons systems, including some jointly-produced with other European countries. France has a defense industry capable of manufacturing the full spectrum of military weapons systems.

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Canada is a country located in Northern North America with an area of 9,984,670 km2 (land boundries: 8,891 km and costline 202,080 km). The capital of Canada is Ottawa. The number of inhabitants is 38,048,738.

Canada is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty. Canada is part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). The Canadian's inventory is a mix of domestically-produced equipment and imported weapons systems from Australia, Europe, Israel, and the USA. The leading supplier is the United States. Canada's defense industry develops, maintains, and produces a range of equipment, including aircraft, combat vehicles, naval vessels.

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If you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 54 billion $ 26.4 billion $
Percent of GDP: 1.7% 1.4%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 816 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 208,750 68,000
Reserve personnel: 141,050 27,000
Available for military: 14,563,662 8,031,266

Active

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Highest value in the world: 2,035,000 (China)
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Land Forces

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Tanks: 406 82
Armoured fighting vehicles: 6,463 1,693
Total artillery: 134 163
Self-propelled artillery: 109 0
Rocket artillery: 13 0

Tanks

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Highest value in the world: 12,267 (Russia)
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Air Forces

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Total aircraft: 1,253 417
Fighter aircraft: 56 0
Multirole aircraft: 146 98
Attack aircraft: 86 0
Helicopters: 540 165
UCAV (combat drone): 12 0

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 12,930 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 111 67
Aircraftcarriers: 4 0
Destroyers: 11 0
Frigates: 11 12
Corvettes: 0 0
Submarines: 10 4

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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Nuclear weapons

France

France managed to research and develop its own nuclear weapon in 1960. The test, known as, Gerboise Bleue, was the result of mostly French research. One of the main figures that played crucial role in the entire process of developing the bomb was General Pierre Marie Gallois. He was concerned that the Suez Crisis, which started in 1956, would show the world how insignificant France became, since out of all Great Powers in the world, they were the only one without possessing its own nuclear arsenal. The tests were conducted on the terrains of Sahara Desert.

At this moment France owns 300 nuclear warheads, out of which almost all are deployed. What is more, compared to Great Britain, they made more tests, approximately 210. Noteworthy is the fact that the development of the first nuclear bomb in France as well as its tests were a bit controversial. It was due to the fact that France allowed Israeli observers to attend the tests, providing them with almost unrestricted access to all the data. It was quite important, since Israel, together with United Kingdom and France, were trying to invade Egypt.

Canada

Does not have nuclear weapons.

Military service

France

18-25 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription; 1-year service obligation; women serve in noncombat post.

Canada

17 years of age for voluntary male and female military service (with parental consent); 16 years of age for Reserve and Military College applicants; Canadian citizenship or permanent residence status required; maximum 34 years of age; service obligation 3-9 years