Military power of France & Latvia
France vs Latvia
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 militaryLatvia is a country located in Eastern Europe, bordering the Baltic Sea, between Estonia and Lithuania, with an area of 64,589 km2 (land boundries: 1,370 km and costline 498 km). The capital of Latvia is Riga. The number of inhabitants is 1,842,226.
Republic of Latvia joined NATO end European Union in 2004. The Latvian military has participated in NATO and EU missions abroad and regularly conducts training and exercises. Latvia hosts NATO partner forces. North Atlantic Alliance has provided air protection for Latvia since 2004 through its Baltics Air Policing mission. Latvia is a member of the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force, a pool of high-readiness military forces from 10 Baltic and Scandinavian countries. The Latvian military's inventory consists of a mix of European and US equipment
More about Latvia militaryIf you want to check the comparison in terms of economic ratios check out CompareEconomy.com
Military expenditures
Manpower
Land Forces
Air Forces
Navy
☢ 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.
Latvia
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.
Latvia
18 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; 12 months mandatory military service for men 18-27 years of age