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Military power of France & Ukraine

France vs Ukraine

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France Ukraine

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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Ukraine is a country located in Eastern Europe with an area of 603,500 km² (land boundries: 5,581 km and costline 2,782 km). The capital of Ukraine is Kiev. The number of inhabitants is 41,487,960.

During the 2008 Bucharest summit, NATO declared that Ukraine would eventually become a member of NATO when it meets the criteria for accession. In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Ukrainian military is equipped mostly with older Russian and Soviet-era weapons systems. Ukraine has a broad defense industry capable of building Soviet-era land systems and maintaining and upgrading Soviet-era combat aircraft, as well as missile and air defense systems.

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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 $

31 billion $

Percent of GDP

1.9 %

16 %

Manpower

Active personnel

270,000

1,250,000

Reserve personnel

141,050

1,000,000

Available for military

14,563,662

11,149,646

Land Forces

Tanks

406

1,462

Armoured fighting vehicles

6,748

5,739

Total artillery

119

3,636

Self-propelled artillery

96

899

Rocket artillery

11

693

Air Forces

Total aircraft

1,143

297

Fighter

26

57

Multirole

144

0

Attack

66

27

Helicopters

478

115

UCAV (combat drone)

16

12

Navy

Total naval

111

53

Aircraft carriers

4

0

Destroyers

10

0

Frigates

12

1

Corvettes

0

Submarines

10

0

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.

Ukraine

Although Ukraine has never produced its own nuclear weapon to this day, we should bear in mind that back in the days, Ukraine possessed approximately 5,000 nuclear weapons. This is all due to the fact that before 1991, Ukraine was a part of the Soviet Union. However, as a consequence of its dissolution, all the countries that were satellites or were forcefully attached to Soviet Union, received number of warheads. They were once the property of the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, after Ukraine became independent, they received everything that was the part of the USSR, even nuclear warheads. As a result of that, Ukraine became the third largest holder of nuclear weapons in the world.

Ukraine decided to get rid of these weapons quite quickly. Three years later, in 1994 that is, they joined Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. In 1996, all the warheads were moved and disassembled in Russia.

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.

Ukraine

18-27 years of age for compulsory military service; conscript service obligation is 18 months