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Military power of France & India

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France vs India

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France India

France is a country located in Western Europe with an area of 640,679 km2 (land boundries: 3,956 km and costline 4,853 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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India is a country located in Southern Asia with an area of 3,287,590 km2 (land boundries: 13,888 km and costline 7,000 km). The capital of India is New Delhi. The number of inhabitants is 1,352,642,280.

The Indian Armed Forces were chiefly focused on China and Pakistan. India and Pakistan have fought several conflicts since 1947. The Sino-Indian War between China and India occurred in October–November 1962. A disputed Himalayan border was the main cause of the war. The inventory of the Indian Armed Forces consists mostly of Russian- and Soviet-origin equipment along with a smaller mix of Western and domestically-produced arms. Russia has been the leading supplier of arms to India. France, Israel, and the US also among the major arms suppliers. India's defense industry is capable of producing a range of weapons systems for indigenous use and export.

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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: 60 billion $ 74 billion $
Percent of GDP: 1.9% 2%

Military budget

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Highest value in the world: 916 billion $ (USA)
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Manpower

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Active personnel: 270,000 1,400,000
Reserve personnel: 141,050 1,155,000
Available for military: 14,563,662 319,129,420

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 4,614
Armoured fighting vehicles: 6,748 8,600
Total artillery: 119 2,799
Self-propelled artillery: 96 100
Rocket artillery: 11 960

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: 1,143 2,263
Fighter aircraft: 26 173
Multirole aircraft: 144 405
Attack aircraft: 66 120
Helicopters: 478 729
UCAV (combat drone): 16 12

Total aircraft

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Highest value in the world: 13,175 (USA)
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Navy

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Total naval: 111 267
Aircraftcarriers: 4 1
Destroyers: 10 11
Frigates: 12 13
Corvettes: 0 23
Submarines: 10 16

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.

India

India is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. India maintains a "no first use" nuclear policy

India has not released any official statements about the size of its nuclear arsenal. As of January 2020, India was estimated to have around 150 warheads.

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.

India

16-18 years of age for voluntary military service (Army 17 1/2, Air Force 17, Navy 16 1/2); no conscription; women may join as officers, but for noncombat roles only.