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Military power of France & Israel

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France vs Israel

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France Israel

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.

More about France military

Israel is a country located in Middle East with an area of 20,770 km2 (land boundries: 1,068 km and costline 273 km). The capital of Israel is Jerusalem but it is internationally unrecognized. The number of inhabitants is 9,353,610.

Israel has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US. The majority of the IDF's inventory is comprised of weapons that are domestically-produced or imported from Europe and the United States. Israel has a broad defense industrial base that can develop, produce, support, and sustain a wide variety of weapons systems.

More about Israel military

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

Military expenditures

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small flag IL

Military budget

+
60 billion $
24 billion $

Percent of GDP

+
1.9 %
5.2 %

Manpower

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small flag IL

Active personnel

+
270,000
169,500

Reserve personnel

+
141,050
465,000

Available for military

+
14,563,662
1,797,960

Land Forces

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small flag IL
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Tanks

+
406
1,300
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Armoured fighting vehicles

+
6,748
6,190
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Total artillery

+
119
621
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Self-propelled artillery

+
96
352
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Rocket artillery

+
11
98

Air Forces

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small flag IL
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Total aircraft

+
1,143
626
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Fighter

+
26
41
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Multirole

+
144
239
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Attack

+
66
0
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Helicopters

+
478
127
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UCAV (combat drone)

+
16
15

Navy

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small flag IL
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Total naval

+
111
63
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Aircraft carriers

+
4
0
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Destroyers

+
10
0
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Frigates

+
12
0
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Corvettes

+
0
7
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Submarines

+
10
6

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.

Israel

Although not certain, there is a rumour that Israel was the sixth country in the world that managed to research and develop their own nuclear arsenal. However, they did not confirm that fact. Still, a lot of sources claim that they managed to prepare fully working nuclear warheads in 1966. In spite of such early dates, Israel has not joined the NPT. Up to this day, they do not confirm nor deny the possibility of having nuclear arsenal. As a result of that, Israel is said to apply quite effective, yet affordable deterring policy.

According to many organizations, the estimated numbers of nuclear weapons that Israel possesses varies from 80 up to even 200 ready to be launched nuclear weapons. What is more, there are also rumours that Israel managed to prepare special missiles that can be operational from submarines.

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.

Israel

18 years of age for compulsory (Jews, Druzes) military service; 17 years of age for voluntary (Christians, Muslims, Circassians) military service; both sexes are obligated to military service; conscript service obligation - 36 months for enlisted men, 21 months for enlisted women, 48 months for officers; pilots commit to 9 years service; reserve obligation to age 41-51 (men), 24 (women).