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Military power of NATO & European Union EU

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NATO vs European Union EU

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NATO European Union EU

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (North Atlantic Alliance) is an intergovernmental military alliance which was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949. NATO is a system of collective security: its independent member states agree to defend each other against attacks by others countries. NATO's main headquarters are located in Brussels. The following twelve states signed the treaty and became the founding members: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and United States. The following states joined the treaty after 1949: Greece, Germany, Turkey and Spain. Members who joined after the dissolution of the Soviet Union: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia.

Before and during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, several NATO countries sent army to reinforce the alliance's eastern flank. Alliance had deployed 40,000 troops along its 2,500 kilometres long Eastern flank to deter possible Russian aggression. On 5 July the North Atlantic Alliance members signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland and formally approved the decisions of the NATO summit.

Finland joined the alliance on 4 April 2023.

The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union countries that are located in Europe with an area of 4,233,255 km2 The capital of Ukraine is Brussels. The number of inhabitants estimated is about 447 million. Members of EU: Germany, Latvia, France, Lithuania, Estonia, Portugal, Belgium, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Sweden, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Hungary, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

The European Union were not devised as a military alliance because most of the members are in the North Atlantic Alliance. Since the withdrawal of the UK, France is the only member recognised as a nuclear weapon state. Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium participate in NATO nuclear sharing.

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

Military expenditures

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small flag EU

Military budget

+
1345.9 billion $
308 billion $

Percent of GDP

+
0 %
0 %

Manpower

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small flag EU

Active personnel

+
3,361,134
1,361,164

Reserve personnel

+
3,100,032
2,122,132

Available for military

+
213,494,536
97,120,162

Land Forces

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small flag EU
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Tanks

+
12,541
4,352
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Armoured fighting vehicles

+
88,334
34,164
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Total artillery

+
12,901
6,242
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Self-propelled artillery

+
4,715
2,091
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Rocket artillery

+
1,904
836

Air Forces

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small flag EU
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Total aircraft

+
21,112
5,199
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Fighter

+
863
375
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Multirole

+
3,876
955
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Attack

+
642
111
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Helicopters

+
7,898
2,219
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UCAV (combat drone)

+
964
67

Navy

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small flag EU
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Total naval

+
2,433
1,535
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Aircraft carriers

+
30
7
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Destroyers

+
122
17
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Frigates

+
120
78
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Corvettes

+
64
23
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Submarines

+
148
46

Nuclear weapons

NATO

Data not available

European Union EU

Data not available

Military service

NATO

Data not available

European Union EU

Data not available