*Britain-France

MightyMacbeth

I am Honor
I was wondering, which country has a "better" military.
I dont know if any could help in posting the evidence..say for example, giving the info like:

-military men available?
-training?
-Technology?
-Military equipment used?
-Vehicles used? How much? How good?
-military spending/ money spent on defence?

and the like :)

thanx
 
Britain has one of the most professional Armies in Europe. The French still have a bigger army but I am not sure if they have yet ended conscription.
 
The two run somewhat equally to one another. The best reasons to rate the UK over France: 1.) Stronger Navy potentially enables Britain to freely deploy their forces into more situations. 2.) The British Armed Forces have had more recent large-scale combat experience.
 
Between the two, my money is on Britain until France proves otherwise. A great philosopher once said: "To be the man, you've gotta beat the man".
 
LeEnfield said:
Britain has one of the most professional Armies in Europe. The French still have a bigger army but I am not sure if they have yet ended conscription.

Yes, they ended the conscription in mid 90s.
 
hmm, I see all your points..
And yeah, Britain has more experience in wars and has a better navy for ages..

And if possible, mention why you chose the country you did :)

Also, I also hoped if any would have any of the info I mentioned in my first post or something leading to it.
 
MightyMacbeth said:
And if possible, mention why you chose the country you did :)

Well, it is almost possible to compare based on any public info, so I went with history. Britain is pretty much undefeated (straight up and against the spread) vs. France since 1066.
 
yes true.. but then look at the hundred years war after..but thats ancient history :)

I am sure there has to be some place giving info though..
 
The French Military is quiet good (probably top 5) but I consider the British Military to be the best in the world, even better than the US.

I disagree about the NAVY, heres why. The Royal Navy ships have historically been inferior to the Spanish, French, and Dutch. Its crews were also less motivated as most were forced conscripts, while the NL, FR SP were all volenteers. What made the RN so successful was the quality of its officiers. A tradition that still exsists today.

Speaking today. WWII proved that naval battles would be determined by airpower. The British made a terrible mistake in trading traditional fleet carriers for S/VOTL carriers. S/VTOL aircraft such as the Harrier MK.1/MK.2 the Yak-38, and Yak-141 simply cannot compete against modern carrier aircraft. The RN as acknolowed this and as is returning to a CVN program (in conjection with the French set for 2007). The FN like the USN never liked VTOL and stuck with tradition carriers Clamenceau, Foch and Charles De Gaulle. Thats a 40 year head start the French have. I mentioned the FN-RN program. The advantage for the RN is that they can pick up some experiance off the French while the French will pick up a new carrier or 2 after the De gaulle turned out to be such a fiasco...
 
I'll let this one run for now, but please be carefull since this one can easily turn into a Country vs. Country flamewar...

Official facts and figures answering the first post is ok:
-military men available?
-training?
-Technology?
-Military equipment used?
-Vehicles used? How much? How good?
-military spending/ money spent on defence?
etc...
 
LeEnfield said:
Britain has one of the most professional Armies in Europe. The French still have a bigger army but I am not sure if they have yet ended conscription.

They have ended conscription at least 5 years ago.

-military men available:
France: Active troops: 259,050
Britain: Active troops: 190,000 (October 2004)


-military spending/ money spent on defence
France: $45 billion in the Fiscal Year 2006
Britain: $42.8365 billion (2003)

-training?
-Technology?
-Military equipment used?
-Vehicles used? How much? How good?
 
Last edited:
Thanks Redleg, and good stuff people :)

Hope that the info is up to date .

I also will try to post the info I find.

Wish all could help in finding about the info asked for.
Interesting posts really
 
mmarsh said:
The French Military is quiet good (probably top 5) but I consider the British Military to be the best in the world, even better than the US.
By this, I assume you mean in terms of quality per size, is that correct? I think that the British Armed Forces is excellent, but I don't think that they'd surpass the USA in overall strength.

The numbers certainly do stack up in favor of the French in the comparison. The experience factor stacks up in the UK's favor.
 
I see..

hmm, according an earlier post, the French outnumber the British.. wont that be in the favour of the French?
I mean I know training and experience etc.. play a role, but it wont be that of a big difference..
 
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