*Britain-France

major liability said:
Also, I believe Britain has the best light infantry in the world.

Strongly dissagree .... even back in the world wars u werent best. Now, ok Brit infantry is good, one of the best .... but not the best. To decide which one is the best u cant theres no proof , if they went against eachother and one won over the other then maybe u can argue.
 
well, Britain has great technology and is armed quite well. Russia and China? well, not that great of technology and not as good as the quality of Britain, but they surely got overwhelming numbers which will, after time, proove to be better(maybe).

But I dont know who has got better quality, France or Britain..
 
I think England has the edge due to greater ability to project its power. They have a strong carrier fleet, good logistical support, and modern powerfull ground forces. In addition they have much more combat experience than their french counterparts.

France is building up well, however. They have a nice tank in the Leclerc and if they can create a carrier that was what the DuGaulle should have been, they will be well on their way.
 
I'm quite curious, how do the Carriers in the Royal and French Navies compare to those in the USA's fleet of Supercarriers? In terms of projecting power, I think this would make all the difference in the world. I would have guessed that the British Royal Navy would have been bigger, but it seems that I was wrong. So big question is quality and quantity. If the French have a better Carrier fleet, greater firepower, and greater overall tonnage then we'd have to dispense with any assumptions about the British Royal Naval being superior.
 
No one comes anywhere close to America's navy. Not anywhere near the same league.

The class of carrier England considers the top of the line we call Amphibious Assault Ships in our Navy.
 
I would go with British military. I think British military is one of the best ground force in Europe. That is my opition. No argue.
 
Im biased but i would put the British Armed Forces tops. We may have a small navy compared to the US but we get the job done with very few problems. What some people dont realise is that we are a small country and our budget is not as vast as the US. We make do with what we have and we do an outstanding job. We have recently just lost the 100th person in the War on Terror. Its the professionalism and Equipment which helps keep our guys alive. So we must be doing something right.
 
True. So basically, the British military has a great technology and good quality. Troops well trained and equipment are the latest. They might match those of the US, but not the navy. And what it lacks, is numbers.

So most are agreeing that the British navy is better equiped, has more technology, better quality, and more experienced than the French. But also, we do agree that the French navy is something not to underestimate, as they are greatly progressing. Getting more experienced and advanced. So, its tough..
 
I think that any listing of Top 20 Best Militaries in the World, should list Britain and France right next to each other. By that I mean:

5.) France
6.) Great Britain

or

4.) Great Britain
5.) France

As I said from the start, the two run fairly equally. Both have excellent military tech, superb training and strong navies. Its a pretty tough choice.
 
MightyMacbeth said:
well, Britain has great technology and is armed quite well. Russia and China? well, not that great of technology and not as good as the quality of Britain, but they surely got overwhelming numbers which will, after time, proove to be better(maybe).

But I dont know who has got better quality, France or Britain..

Russia has good technology mate. Russias tanks are pretty shit but they r still cummin up with new tech.
 
Russia has good technology mate. Russias tanks are pretty shit but they r still cummin up with new tech.

Some sure, but you cant deny that there lacking behind the US/EU now days.
 
Whispering Death said:
I think England has the edge due to greater ability to project its power. They have a strong carrier fleet, good logistical support, and modern powerfull ground forces. In addition they have much more combat experience than their french counterparts.

France is building up well, however. They have a nice tank in the Leclerc and if they can create a carrier that was what the DuGaulle should have been, they will be well on their way.

If you are ever in the prescence of welsh or scottish people, dont refer to Britain as England, you wont make any friends...;)

Britain has 3 carriers although only 2 are fully operational now, when we get the 2 new carriers then I think we will have a much better navy then the french, as with the new astute submarines and type 45 destroyers then most of our equipment will be newer and more powerful. Hopefully we will get the F-35 otherwise the Rafale will be more advanced. We have a bigger amphibious fleet then the french and our marines are second to none.
As for the army its small and the SA80 has its critics but other than that it has seen more combat experience against better armed opponents then the french. the Challenger 2 has combat experience and our special forces are best in the world.
The french airforce has possibly better fighters than the british until the Typhoon is introduced, but other than that we have a larger transport fleet. Probably 3rd most capable after the USA and Russia. But i believe the french have the ability to drop nuclear bombs but we only have nuclear warheads on ballistic missiles now.
 
Shadowalker

Carriers...

Thats true, but they are SVTOL carriers while the French carrier are a traditional CVN. CVN's are vastly superior and the French have 50 years experiance of using them. The Royal navy stopped using them in the 1960s in what was a terriable idea. SVTOL has its place it supporting ground troops, but it cannot compete against traditional fighters. However The RN and FN just last month agreed to co-devolop a new type of CV (or CVN). The Brits get 2 the French get 1. So that both countries each have 2. The only catch is that the RN want to use the F-35 SVTOL which is slightly inferior to the USAF/USN F-35. I think this gives the French an edge as they will stick to the Rafale.

Subs...
SSBN are about the same, the French 4 of which are the newest Triophante class the rest are the older Redoubtable/Inflexible class. These boats tend to be larger and heavier then the British Vanguard and Resolution class. The final Vanguard is still under construction I believe...

Ships...
We have a bigger amphibious fleet then the french and our marines are second to none.

This is true, but its a difference of strategy. The French are not big supporters of traditional naval amphibious assault, they are helicopter (smaller units, special forces, etc...) focused as opposed to traditional troopship/Hovercraft etc...

Infantry
As for the army its small and the SA80 has its critics but other than that it has seen more combat experience against better armed opponents then the french. the Challenger 2 has combat experience and our special forces are best in the world.

The French have far more combat experiance since WWII. Suez (with the UK) Vietnam, Algeria and various on again-off again battles in the ME, Africa and various peacekeepng missions. The British Suez, the Falkland Islands, Desert Storm, Desert Storm II. The French wars were much nastier. As for Tanks the French use the LeClerc which is on-par with the Challenger 2. Challenger 2 is a slighter better tank IMHO, but I dont think the difference is big. The French use th FAMAS which is a good design, I have never fired one, but from what I read its on par with the SA80 or Steyr AUG.

The French abandoned its Silo based Missiles in 1995. But they have both aircraft launched, and submarine launched Missiles as well as convention nuclear bombs such as the Hades bomb.

Where i do give the British Army standsout is on training. I think its 2nd to none on the training of its men and its officier corps. I would even go as far as to say better than the U.S on this point.
 
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Have any of you considered the fact that the best French regiment,
Their elite 2nd REP has a fair number of Englishmen(yes,Welsh,Scots and Irish included) in it .
The S.A.S. or S.B.S. dont have an equivelent number of frenchmen in their ranks.
:sniper:
 
mmarsh A comment on combat experience: The French may have seen more combat since WW2, but only things as recent as 10-15 years are where you gain usable Vetran experience to your Armed Forces. I don't keep track of France's military endeavors, so there may have been something major within that timeframe, but I'm not aware of any.
 
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Yes the french sarrier fleet is probably better than the british right now, when both have 2 carriers then i doubt there will b much between them.
I believe the vanguard is larger than the French SSBN, the vanguard class is only 3000t smaller than the Ohio class.
The British have the same strategy as the french for amphibious assault, i.e using helicopters, in Suez helicopters were used by both the french and british and we have built a dedicated helicopter carrier HMS Ocean.
You have missed a few wars for the british army such as Oman, Malaysia, Northern Ireland, Sierra Leone, Afghanistan and the Balkans where the french were to.
 
What about the Special Forces?

Britain got the SAS and the Royal Marines. And France has got a few, most notably, the GIGN or something..
 
MightyMacbeth said:
What about the Special Forces?

Britain got the SAS and the Royal Marines. And France has got a few, most notably, the GIGN or something..

What is GIGN?
 
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