| French Armed Forces Forces Armees Francaises |
|
|---|---|
 Coat of Arms of the French Republic |
|
| Service branches | Armée de Terre Marine Nationale Armée de l'Air Gendarmerie Nationale |
| Leadership | |
| Commander-in-Chief | President Nicolas Sarkozy |
| Minister of Defence | Hervé Morin |
| Chief of staff | Général d'armée Jean-Louis Georgelin |
| Military age | 17 years of age with consent for voluntary military service (2001) |
| Available for military service |
13,676,509 (2005 est. The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre (Land Army is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm The French Air Force ( French: Armée de l'Air (ALA literally Air Army) is the Air force of the French Armed Forces. See Gendarmerie for similar forces in other countries In France, the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale is the national The President of the French Republic (Président de la République française colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France 's elected Nicolas Sarkozy (pronounced, Hervé Morin (born 17 August, 1961 in Pont-Audemer, Eure, Normandy) is a French Norman politician and the French A Général d'Armée ( Army General) is the highest active military rank of the French Army. ), age 15–49 |
| Fit for military service |
11,262,661 (2005 est. ), age 15–49 |
| Reaching military age annually |
389,204 (2005 est. ) |
| Active personnel | 359,050 (2006) ranked 14th |
| Reserve personnel | 419,000 (2006) |
| Deployed personnel | 35,000 (2006 est. This is a list of countries sorted by the total number of active troops where the military manpower of a country is measured by the total amount of active troops within the command ) |
| Expenditures | |
| Percent of GDP | 2. 6% (2005) |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military History of France La Grande Armée |
The Military of France has a very long history, greatly influential in World history, of serving its country. The military history of France encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2000 years across areas including modern France, greater This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The military history of France encompasses an immense panorama of conflicts and struggles extending for more than 2000 years across areas including modern France, greater It encompasses an army, a navy, an air force and a military police force. The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre (Land Army is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm The French Air Force ( French: Armée de l'Air (ALA literally Air Army) is the Air force of the French Armed Forces. See Gendarmerie for similar forces in other countries In France, the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale is the national The President of the Republic is the Commander-in-Chief of the military that has, as some of its primary objectives, the defence of national territory, the protection of French interests abroad, and the maintenance of global stability. The President of the French Republic (Président de la République française colloquially referred to in English as the President of France, is France 's elected A commander-in-chief is the Commander of a nation's Military forces or significant element of those forces
With a reported personnel strength of 779,450 in 2006 (259,050 regular force[1], 419,000 regular reserve[2], and 101,400 law enforcement Gendarmerie[3]), the French Armed Forces constitutes the largest military in Europe and the 14th largest in the world by number of troops. The military reserve forces of France are the Military reserve force within the armed forces of France. See Gendarmerie for similar forces in other countries In France, the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale is the national This is a list of countries sorted by the total number of active troops where the military manpower of a country is measured by the total amount of active troops within the command The French Armed Forces however have the 2nd highest expenditure of any military in the world, as well as the 3rd largest nuclear force in the world, only behind the United States and Russia. This is a list of countries by military expenditures using the latest information available Nations that are known or believed to possess Nuclear weapons are sometimes referred to as the nuclear club. A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from Nuclear reactions either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending [4].
On 31 July 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered M. Nicolas Sarkozy (pronounced, Jean-Claude Mallet, a member of the Council of State, to head up a commission charged with a wide-ranging review of French defence which would lead to a new White Paper in early-mid 2008. [5]
Contents |
Organization
The titular head of the French armed forces is the President of the Republic, in his role as Chef des Armées — the President is thus Commander-in-Chief of French forces. However, the Constitution puts civil and military government forces at the disposal of the government (the executive cabinet of ministers, who are not necessarily of the same political side as the president). The Minister of Defence (as of 2007, Hervé Morin) oversees the military's funding, procurement and operations. The Minister of Defence ( Ministère de la Défense) is the French Government cabinet member charged with running the Military of France Hervé Morin (born 17 August, 1961 in Pont-Audemer, Eure, Normandy) is a French Norman politician and the French
The French armed forces are divided into four branches:
- Army (Armée de Terre), including:
- Infantry (Infanterie)
- Chasseurs Alpins (mountain infantry)
- Armored Cavalry (Arme Blindée Cavalerie)
- Artillery (Artillerie)
- Foreign Legion (infantry, cavalry, engineers)
- Troupes de marine (Marines) (infantry, cavalry, artillery)
- Army Light Aviation (Aviation Légére de l'Armée de Terre - ALAT)
- Engineers (Génie) including the Paris Fire Brigade
- Signals (Transmissions)
- Transport and logistics (Train)
- Supply (Matériel)
- Infantry (Infanterie)
- Navy (Marine Nationale), including:
- Naval Air
- naval fusiliers (naval ground troops) and naval commandos including the Marseille Fire Battalion
- Air Force (Armée de l'Air) including
- territorial Air Defence
- air fusiliers (air force ground troops)
- Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale), a military police force which serves for the most part as a rural and general purpose police force. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. For the military meaning see Armed forces. For the Soviet sports society see Armed Forces (sports society Armed Forces The French Army, officially the Armée de Terre (Land Army is the land-based component of the French Armed Forces and its largest The Chasseurs Alpins ( Alpine Light Infantry) are the elite Mountain Infantry of the French Army. The fr Troupes de marine, are an arm of the French Army with naval heritage The French Army Light Aviation (Aviation Légère de l’Armée de Terre ALAT is a the aviation service of the French Army. This article is about the Paris Fire Brigade For the British Society for Plant Pathology see BSPP. The French Navy, officially the Marine nationale ( National Navy) and often called La Royale ( The Royal Navy) is the maritime arm The Aviation navale ( Naval aviation) of the French Navy includes 162 airplanes (138 of them combat-capable and 6800 men both civilians and military personnel The Fusiliers Marins (Navy riflemen are units specialised in the protection and defence of key sites of the French Navy on land The Naval Commandos (Commandos marine are the Special forces of the French Navy. Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ The French Air Force ( French: Armée de l'Air (ALA literally Air Army) is the Air force of the French Armed Forces. Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military Aircraft in defence of ground objectives, ground or naval forces ( French for "Fusilier Commandos of the Air" These personnel of France's Armée de l'Air are equivalent to the United Kingdom 's RAF Regiment See Gendarmerie for similar forces in other countries In France, the National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie Nationale is the national
It also include the following services:
- Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (Eng: General Weaponry Delegation) is the French defence procurement agency (a mixed military/civilian service) that includes the former Direction des Constructions Navales. The Délégation générale pour l’armement, in English the “General Delegation for Ordnance” or DGA, is the French government agency which conducts development It also manages a number of engineering schools: the École Polytechnique, École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées, SUPAERO, the ENSICA and the ENSIETA;
- Health service of the armies (Eng: Service de Santé des Armées) operates a number of military hospitals. For other Écoles Polytechniques see École Polytechnique de Montréal and École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne. The École nationale supérieure de techniques avancées (National Higher School of Advanced Techniques also known as ENSTA, is a French Grande école This article is about one of two French engineering schools called ENSAE The École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de constructions aéronautiques (ENSICA meaning National Higher School of Aeronautical Constructions, is a French engineering
- Fuel Services (Eng: Service des Essences des Armées = Army Fuels Service).
Manpower
The total number of military personnel is approximately 459,000, although approximately 100,000 of these are in the Gendarmerie and, thus, used in everyday law enforcement operations within France (elements of the Gendarmerie are, however, present in all French external operations, providing specialised law enforcement troops/military police).
Historically, France relied a great deal on conscription to provide manpower for its military, in addition to a minority of professional career soldiers. Conscription (also known as the draft, the call-up or national service) is a general term for involuntary labor demanded by some established authority Following the Algerian War, the use of non-volunteer draftees in foreign operations was ended; if their unit was called up for duty in war zones, draftees were offered the choice between requesting a transfer to another unit or volunteering for the active mission. The Algerian War ( French: Guerre d'Algérie; 1954-1962 also known as Algerian War of Independence, led to Algeria 's independence from In 1996, President Jacques Chirac's government announced the end of conscription and in 2001, conscription formally was ended. Young people must still, however, register for possible conscription (should the situation call for it). A recent change is that women must now register as well.
International stance
French military doctrine is based on the concepts of national independence, nuclear deterrence (see Force de frappe), and military self-sufficiency. The force de frappe (literally Strike Force; meant for dissuasion, i France is a charter member of NATO, and has worked actively with its allies to adapt NATO — internally and externally — to the post-Cold War environment. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. The North Atlantic Treaty Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the In December 1995, France announced that it would increase its participation in NATO's military wing, including the Military Committee (France withdrew from NATO's military bodies in 1966 whilst remaining full participants in the Organisation's political Councils). France remains a firm supporter of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other cooperative efforts. Paris hosted the May 1997 NATO-Russia Summit which sought the signing of the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city
Outside of NATO, France has actively and heavily participated in both coalition and unilateral peacekeeping efforts in Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, frequently taking a lead role in these operations. The Middle East is a Subcontinent with no clear boundaries often used as a synonym to Near East, in opposition to Far East. France has undertaken a major restructuring to develop a professional military that will be smaller, more rapidly deployable, and better tailored for operations outside of mainland France. Key elements of the restructuring include: reducing personnel, bases and headquarters, and rationalistion of equipment and the armaments industry. As at 2004, the French active-duty military manning was approximately 270,000 (World Almanac 2004), of which nearly 35,000 were stationed outside of mainland France. The World Almanac and Book of Facts is an American-published Reference work and is the bestselling almanac conveying information about such subjects as world changes
Since the end of the Cold War, France has placed a high priority on arms control and non-proliferation. Cold War is the state of conflict tension and competition that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union (USSR and their respective allies from the French Nuclear testing in the Pacific, and the Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior strained French relations with its Allies, South Pacific states (namely New Zealand), and world opinion. The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique, was an operation by the "action" branch of the French foreign New Zealand is an Island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island France agreed to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1992 and supported its indefinite extension in 1995. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty ( NPT or NNPT) is a Treaty to limit the spread After conducting a controversial final series of six nuclear tests on Mururoa in the South Pacific, the French signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996. Mururoa (Mururura Moruroa also historically known as Aopuni, ( The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth 's Oceanic divisions The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT bans all nuclear explosions in all environments for military or civilian purposes Since then, France has implemented a moratorium on the production, export, and use of anti-personnel landmines and supports negotiations leading toward a universal ban. A land mine is an Explosive device designed to be placed on or in the ground to explode when triggered by an operator or the Proximity of a vehicle person The French are key players in the adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe to the new strategic environment.
France remains an active participant in: the major programmes to restrict the transfer of technologies that could lead to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Australia Group (for chemical and biological weapons), and the Missile Technology Control Regime. The Australia Group is an informal group of countries (now joined by the European Commission established in 1985 (after the use of chemical weapons by Iraq in The Missile Technology Control Regime ( MTCR) drafted by Dr Richard H France has also signed and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. The Chemical Weapons Convention ( CWC) is an Arms control agreement which outlaws the production stockpiling and use of chemical weapons Its full name is
- See also: France and weapons of mass destruction
Recent Operations
There are currently 36,000 French troops deployed overseas - such operations are known as "OPEX" for Opérations Extérieures ("Overseas Operations"). The Military of France has several deployments throughout the world
Along with the United States and other countries, France provides troops for the United Nations force stationed in Haiti following the 2004 Haiti rebellion. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Haiti ( English: ˈheɪ·tiː or haɪ·ˈjiː·tiː French Haïti a·i·ti Haitian Creole: The 2004 Haiti coup was a regime overthrow that happened as the result of conflicts fought for several weeks in Haiti during February 2004 France has sent troops, especially special forces, into Afghanistan to help the United States and NATO forces fight the remains of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. In most countries special forces (SF is a generic term for highly-trained Military teams/units that conduct specialized operations such as Reconnaissance Afghanistan /æfˈgænɪstæn/ officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan ( Pashto: د افغانستان اسلامي جمهوریت, The Taliban ( طالبان, also anglicised as Taleban; translation "students" is a Sunni Islamist, predominately Al-Qaeda, alternatively spelled al-Qaida, al-Qa`ida or al-Qa`idah, ( Arabic:; ar-Latn ''al-qāʿidah'' Translation: The In Opération Licorne a force of a few thousand French soldiers is stationed in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) on a UN peacekeeping mission. Opération Licorne ( Operation Unicorn) is the name of the French military operation in support of the United Nations Operation in Côte d'Ivoire. Côte d'Ivoire (ˌkoʊt divˈwɑː(r ' in English, kot diˈvwaʀ in French) or Ivory Coast, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a These troops were initially sent under the terms of a mutual protection pact between France and the Côte d'Ivoire, but the mission has since evolved into the current UN peacekeeping operation. The French Armed Forces have also played a leading role in the ongoing UN peacekeeping mission along the Lebanon-Israel border as part of the cease-fire agreement that brought the 2006 Lebanon War to an end. Lebanon (ˈlɛbənɒn Arabic: ar لبنان Lubnān) officially the Republic of Lebanon or Lebanese Republic (ar الجمهورية اللبنانية For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Background See also Israel-Lebanon conflict The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO had engaged in cross-border attacks from Southern Lebanon Currently, France has 2,000 army personnel deployed along the border, including infantry, armour, artillery and air defence. There are also naval and air personnel deployed offshore.
There are recent reports surfacing that indicate the French military machine is in a bad state of disrepair, with figures suggesting that less than half of the 346 Leclerc tanks in the French inventory are operational, while some helicopter models and reconnaissance jets are only at one-third operational levels. The Leclerc is a Main battle tank (MBT built by Nexter of France. [6]
Equipment
- The standard assault rifle is the FAMAS. An assault rifle is a Selective fire Rifle or Carbine (not to be confused with a semi-automatic only replica firing Ammunition with muzzle The FAMAS (Fusil d'Assaut de la Manufacture d'Armes de Saint-Étienne or "Saint-Étienne arms factory assault rifle" is a Bullpup Assault rifle designed
- The standard pistol is the PAMAS a license produced version of the Beretta 92
- GIAT Industries provides heavy armoured vehicles, while Dassault Aviation is the source of military aircraft. The Beretta 92 (also Beretta 96 and Beretta 98) is a series of Semi-automatic pistols designed and manufactured by Beretta of Italy Nexter (formerly known as GIAT Industries or Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre, Army's Industries Group is a French government-owned Dassault Aviation is a French aircraft manufacturer of military, regional and business jets, a subsidiary of
References
- ^ "French Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 32)", 2006-07-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 285 - Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler
- ^ "French Armed Forces, CSIS (Page 112)", 2006-09-27. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 489 - Odoacer attacks Theodoric at the Battle of Verona and is defeated again
- ^ "French Paramilitary Forces, Tiscali Encyclopedia", 2006-07-25. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 285 - Diocletian appoints Maximian as Caesar, co-ruler
- ^ Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "French nuclear forces, 2005," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 61:4 (July/August 2005): 73-75,[1]
- ^ Official Presidential Website, Letter of Engagement to M. Jean-Claude Mallet, 31 July 2007
- ^ "French army falling apart, documents show, The Telegraph", 2008-06-06. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1508 - Maximilian I Holy Roman Emperor, is defeated in Friulia by Venetian forces; he is forced to sign a three-year
See also
- Ranks in the French Army
- Ranks in the French Navy
- Ranks in the French Air Force
External links
Military of France
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