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Military power of Spain & France

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Spain vs France

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Spain France

Spain is a country located in Southwestern Europe with an area of 505,990 km2 (land boundries: 1,952.7 km and costline 4,964 km). The capital of Spain is Madrid. The number of inhabitants is 47,450,795.

Spain joined NATO in 1982. The inventory of the Spanish military is comprised of domestically-produced and imported Western weapons systems. Spain's defense industry manufactures land, air, and sea weapons systems and is integrated within the European defense-industrial sector.

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

Military expenditures

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Military budget: 23.7 billion $ 60 billion $
Percent of GDP: 1.5% 1.9%

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: 133,282 270,000
Reserve personnel: 15,150 141,050
Available for military: 11,759,557 14,563,662

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: 327 406
Armoured fighting vehicles: 2,361 6,748
Total artillery: 242 119
Self-propelled artillery: 102 96
Rocket artillery: 0 11

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: 570 1,143
Fighter aircraft: 68 26
Multirole aircraft: 84 144
Attack aircraft: 13 66
Helicopters: 152 478
UCAV (combat drone): 4 16

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: 60 111
Aircraftcarriers: 1 4
Destroyers: 0 10
Frigates: 11 12
Corvettes: 0 0
Submarines: 2 10

Total naval

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Highest value in the world: 967 (North Korea)
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Nuclear weapons

Spain

Does not have 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.

Military service

Spain

18-26 years of age for voluntary military service by a Spanish citizen or legal immigrant, 2-3 year obligation; women allowed to serve in all SAF branches, including combat units; no conscription, but Spanish Government retains right to mobilize citizens 19-25 years of age in a national emergency; mandatory retirement of non-NCO enlisted personnel at age 45 or 58, depending on service length.

France

18-25 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription; 1-year service obligation; women serve in noncombat post.