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Military power of France & Japan

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France vs Japan

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France Japan

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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Japan is a country located in Eastern Asia with an area of 377,944 km2 (land boundries: 0 km and costline 29,751 km). The capital of Japan is Tokyo. The number of inhabitants is 125,360,000.

The current Self Defense Force was founded in 1954. Japan has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the USA. Approximately 55,000 US troops and other military assets, including aircraft and naval ships, were stationed in Japan and had exclusive use of more than 80 bases and facilities. In exchange for their use, the US guarantees Japan’s security. The JSDF is equipped with a mix of imported and domestically-produced equipment. The majority of its weapons imports are from the US and some domestically-produced weapons are US-origin and manufactured under license.

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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 $ 51 billion $
Percent of GDP: 1.9% 1.2%

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: 270,000 247,150
Reserve personnel: 141,050 56,100
Available for military: 14,563,662 27,301,443

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 1,004
Armoured fighting vehicles: 6,748 3,072
Total artillery: 119 623
Self-propelled artillery: 96 214
Rocket artillery: 11 99

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 1,444
Fighter aircraft: 26 155
Multirole aircraft: 144 79
Attack aircraft: 66 0
Helicopters: 478 698
UCAV (combat drone): 16 0

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: 111 140
Aircraftcarriers: 4 4
Destroyers: 10 36
Frigates: 12 2
Corvettes: 0 6
Submarines: 10 22

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.

Japan

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.

Japan

18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription; mandatory retirement at age 53 for senior enlisted personnel and at 62 years for senior service officers.