Military of France

Military of France
Military manpower
Military age	18 years of age
Availability	males age 15-49: 14,619,317 (2000 est.)
Fit for military service	males age 15-49: 12,167,421 (2000 est.)
Reaching military age annually	males: 402,987 (2000 est.)
Military expenditures
Dollar figure	$39.831 billion (FY97)
Percent of GDP	2.5% (FY97)

Table of contents

1 Organization 2 International stance 3 External links

Organization

The French armed forces are divided into four branches:

• Army, including
  • Foreign Legion
  • Marine troops
  • light aviation
  • engineers
• Navy, including
  • Naval Air
  • naval fusiliers
• Air Force, including
  • territorial Air Defense
  • air fusiliers
• National Gendarmerie (military police force)

They also include the following services:

• General delegation to weaponry (defense procurement agency), military/civilian service, including
  • the Direction of Naval Constructions
  • supervision of some engineering schools (including École Polytechnique and École Nationale Supérieure de Techniques Avancées)
• Health service of the armies
• Service of fuels.

International stance

French military doctrine is based on the concepts of national independence, nuclear deterrence, and military sufficiency. France is a founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and has worked actively with Allies to adapt NATO--internally and externally--to the post-Cold War environment. In December 1995, France announced that it would increase its participation in NATO's military wing, including the Military Committee (the French withdrew from NATO's military bodies in 1966 while remaining full participants in the alliance's political councils). France remains a firm supporter of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other efforts at cooperation. Paris hosted the May 1997 NATO-Russia Summit for the signing of the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security.

Outside of NATO, France has actively and heavily participated in recent peacekeeping/coalition efforts in Africa, the Middle East, and the Balkans, often taking the lead in these operations. France has undertaken a major restructuring to develop a professional military which 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 rationalizing equipment and the armament industry. French active-duty military at the beginning of 2001 numbered approximately 446,000, of which nearly 35,000 were assigned outside of metropolitan France.

France places a high priority on arms control and non-proliferation. It supported the indefinite extension of the Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1995. After conducting a final series of six nuclear tests, the French signed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in 1996. France has implemented a moratorium on the production, export, and use of anti-personnel landmines and supports negotiations leading toward a universal ban. The French are key players in the adaptation of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe to the new strategic environment.

France is an active participant in the major supplier regimes designed to restrict transfer of technologies that could lead to proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the Australia Group (for chemical and biological weapons), and the Missile Technology Control Regime. France has signed and ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention.

External links

• Official site of the French Ministry of Defense