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Military power of France & Turkey

France vs Turkey

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France Turkey

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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Turkey is a country located in Southeastern Europe and Southwestern Asia (that portion of Turkey west of the Bosporus is geographically part of Europe) with an area of 783,562 km² (land boundries: 2,816 km and costline 7,200 km). The capital of Turkey is Ankara. The number of inhabitants is 83,614,362.

Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952 and hosts NATO's Land Forces Command in Izmir. Under a long-range strategic plan, the Turkish Armed Forces continued efforts to modernize its equipment and force structure. The Turkish Armed Forces inventory is mostly comprised of a mix of domestically-produced and Western weapons systems. In 2019 Turkey purchased the Russian S-400 air defense system. That complicated its relationship with NATO. Turkey has a strong defense industry capable of producing a range of weapons systems for both export and internal use.

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

Military expenditures

Military budget

60 billion $

15.8 billion $

Percent of GDP

1.9 %

1.5 %

Manpower

Active personnel

270,000

425,000

Reserve personnel

141,050

200,000

Available for military

14,563,662

21,079,077

Land Forces

Tanks

406

2,203

Armoured fighting vehicles

6,748

9,323

Total artillery

119

3,103

Self-propelled artillery

96

1,034

Rocket artillery

11

322

Air Forces

Total aircraft

1,143

1,408

Fighter

26

19

Multirole

144

234

Attack

66

0

Helicopters

478

349

UCAV (combat drone)

16

443

Navy

Total naval

111

191

Aircraft carriers

4

1

Destroyers

10

0

Frigates

12

17

Corvettes

0

9

Submarines

10

12

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.

Turkey

Turkey participates in the NATO nuclear weapons sharing arrangements and trains for delivering United States nuclear 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.

Turkey

21-41 years of age for male compulsory military service; 18 years of age for voluntary service; 12 months conscript obligation for non-university graduates, 6-12 months for university graduates (graduates of higher education may perform 6 months of military service as short-term privates, or 12 months as reserve officers); conscripts are called to register at age 20, for service at 21; women serve in the Turkish Armed Forces only as officers; reserve obligation to age 41; Turkish citizens with a residence or work permit who have worked abroad for at least 3 years (1095 days) can be exempt from military service in exchange for 6,000 EUR or its equivalent in foreign currencies; a law passed in December 2014 introduced a one-time payment scheme which exempted Turkish citizens 27 and older from conscription in exchange for a payment of $8,150.