Military Power.net

United Kingdomvs France

On Global Firepower's 2026 index, France (#6) holds a narrow edge over the United Kingdom (#8).

  • France fields 2.2× as many fighters.
  • The United Kingdom has 2× as many aircraft carriers.
  • France has 1.9× as many active troops.
  1. People and moneyFrance leads 3 of 4
  2. Land forcesFrance leads 3 of 5
  3. Air powerFrance leads 6 of 7
  4. Naval forcesEven, 3–3
  5. Nuclear weaponsFrance leads 2 of 2

Leads count raw numbers in each category. Larger is not always stronger: a modern fleet can beat a bigger, older one.

People and money

Who can be put in uniform, and how much is spent keeping them there.

$89.0B
Military spending
$68.0B
141K
Active personnel
264K
32K
Reserves
43K
0
Paramilitary
150K

Spending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (United Kingdom: 2.4% of GDP; France: 2% of GDP).

Land forces

Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.

288
Tanks
427
94K
Armored vehicles
111K
14
Self-propelled artillery
74
126
Towed artillery
0
43
Rocket artillery
9

Air power

Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.

625
Total aircraft
974
103
Fighters
223
38
Attack aircraft
0
262
Helicopters
452
50
Attack helicopters
67
9
Tankers
15
30
Transports
118

Naval forces

Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.

116
Total fleet
166
2
Aircraft carriers
1
0
Helicopter carriers
3
10
Submarines
9
6
Destroyers
11
7
Frigates
5
0
Corvettes
0

Nuclear weapons

Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.

225
Warheads
290
120
Deployed warheads
280

Compare other countries

Related matchups

Profiles: United Kingdom and France. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.