French Armed Forces

The French Armed Forces (French: Forces armées françaises) is the military of France. It consists of four military branches: the Army, Navy, Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie; and a reserve force: the National Guard. The President of France serves as commander-in-chief of the French Armed Forces. France has the sixth largest defence budget in the world and the first in the European Union (EU). It also has the largest military by size in the EU. According to Credit Suisse, the French Armed Forces are ranked as the world's sixth-most powerful military.

History

Main articles: Military history of France and List of French Paratrooper Units

International stance

See also: France and weapons of mass destruction

White Papers

Main article: 2008 French White Paper on Defence and National Security

2008

On 31 July 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered M. Jean-Claude Mallet, a member of the Council of State, to head up a thirty-five member commission charged with a wide-ranging review of French defence. The commission issued its White Paper in early 2008. Acting upon its recommendations, President Sarkozy began making radical changes in French defense policy and structures starting in the summer of 2008. In keeping with post-Cold War changes in European politics and power structures, the French military's traditional focus on territorial defence will be redirected to meet the challenges of a global threat environment. Under the reorganisation, the identification and destruction of terrorist networks both in metropolitan France and in francophone Africa will be the primary task of the French military. Redundant military bases will be closed and new weapons systems projects put on hold to finance the restructuring and global deployment of intervention forces. In a historic change, Sarkozy furthermore has declared that France "will now participate fully in NATO," four decades after former French president General Charles de Gaulle withdrew from the alliance's command structure and ordered American troops off French soil.

2013

Main article: 2013 French White Paper on Defence and National Security

In May 2014, high ranking defence chiefs of the French Armed Forces threatened to resign if the defence budget received further cuts on top of those already announced in the 2013 White Paper. They warned that further cuts would leave the armed forces unable to support operations abroad.

Recent operations

There are currently 36,000 French troops deployed in foreign territories—such operations are known as "OPEX" for Opérations Extérieures ("External Operations"). Among other countries, France provides troops for the United Nations force stationed in Haiti following the 2004 Haiti rebellion. 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 Opération Licorne a force of a few thousand French soldiers is stationed in Ivory Coast on a UN peacekeeping mission. These troops were initially sent under the terms of a mutual protection pact between France and the Ivory Coast, 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. 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.

The French Joint Force and Training Headquarters (État-Major Interarmées de Force et d'Entraînement) at Air Base 110 near Creil maintains the ability to command a medium or large-scale international operation, and runs exercises . In 2011, from 19 March, France participated in the enforcement of a no-fly zone over northern Libya, during the Libyan Civil war, in order to prevent forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi from carrying out air attacks on Anti-Gaddafi forces. This operation was known as Opération Harmattan and was part of France's involvement in the conflict in the NATO-led coalition, enforcing UN Security Council Resolution 1973. On 11 January 2013 France begun Operation Serval to fight Islamists in Mali and the Sahal Region with African support but without NATO involvement and launched Operation Barkhane to combat terror in African Sahal from 2014 to 2022.

Exercises

France participates in several recurring exercises with other nations, including:

	This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (April 2021)

Caraibe 2013, every two years in the Caribbean, centering on Martinique and Guadeloupe.
Croix du Sud, in New Caledonia every two years with Australia, New Zealand, the United States and other Pacific nations.
Varuna, an annual naval exercise with India.

In 2023, Exercise Orion, the largest in decades, is to be held in the Champagne-Ardenne region. About 10,000 soldiers are expected to take part, along with the French navy and possibly forces from Belgium, Britain, and the United States.

Personnel

The head of the French armed forces is the President of the Republic, in his role as chef des armées. However, the Constitution puts civil and military government forces at the disposal of the gouvernement (the executive cabinet of ministers chaired by the Prime Minister, who are not necessarily of the same political side as the president). The Minister of the Armed Forces (as of 2022, the incumbent Sébastien Lecornu) oversees the military's funding, procurement and operations. Historically, France relied a great deal on conscription to provide manpower for its military, in addition to a minority of professional career soldiers. 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. 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). As of 2017 the French Armed Forces have total manpower of 426,265, and has an active personnel of 368,962 (with the Gendarmerie Nationale).

It breaks down as follows (2022):

The French Army; 118,600 personnel.
The French Air and Space Force; 43,597 personnel.
The French Navy; 36,044 personnel.
Tri-service DHS, SEO, and DGA; 17,647 personnel in medical, support and administrative roles, and in the acquisition of weapon systems.

The reserve element of the French Armed Forces consists of two structures; the Operational Reserve and the Citizens Reserve. As of 2022 the strength of the Operational Reserve is 25,785 personnel.

Apart from the three main service branches, the French Armed Forces also includes a fourth military branch called the National Gendarmerie. It had a reported strength of 103,000 active personnel and 25,000 reserve personnel in 2018. They are used in everyday law enforcement, and also form a coast guard formation under the command of the French Navy. There are however some elements of the Gendarmerie that participate in French external operations, providing specialised law enforcement and supporting roles.

Historically the National Guard functioned as the Army's reserve national defense and law enforcement militia. After 145 years since its disbandment, due to the risk of terrorist attacks in the country, the Guard was officially reactivated, this time as a service branch of the Armed Forces, on 12 October 2016.

Since 2019 young French citizens can fulfill the mandatory service Service national universel (SNU) within the Armed Forces in the service branch of their choice.

Organization and service branches

Placed under the command of the staffs, the French armed forces include the five service branches, the Army, the National Navy, the Air and Space Force, the National Gendarmerie, and the National Guard, as well as the support services and joint organizations:

French Army (Armée de terre)

Main article: French Army

Special Forces
Airborne Units (Troupes aéroportées)
Infantry (Infanterie)
Armoured Cavalry (Arme blindée cavalerie)
Artillery (Artillerie)
Foreign Legion (Légion étrangère)
Troupes de Marine
French Army Light Aviation (Aviation légére de l'armée de terre, ALAT)
Engineers (Génie)
Paris Fire Brigade (brigade des sapeurs-pompiers de Paris)
Signal Corps (Transmissions)
Transport and logistics (Train)
Matériel (Supply)
Intelligence (Renseignement)

National Navy (Marine nationale)

Main article: French Navy

Parachute Units of the French Navy
- Naval Infantry and Naval Commandos (Fusiliers Marins)
Naval Air Arm (Aviation navale)
Submarine Force (Forces sous-marines)
Naval Action Force (Force d'action navale)
The Marseille Marine Fire Battalion

In addition, the National Gendarmerie form a Coast Guard force called the Gendarmerie Maritime which is commanded by the French Navy.

French Air and Space Force (Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace)

Main article: French Air and Space Force

French Space Command
Parachute Units of the French Air and Space Force
- Air and space force ground troops (Fusiliers Commandos de l'Air)
- Paratroopers/Special forces (Commando parachutiste de l'air)
Territorial Air Defence

National Gendarmerie (Gendarmerie nationale)

Main article: National Gendarmerie

Parachute Units of the National Gendarmerie
Gendarmerie Départementale (GD) – territorial police force
Gendarmerie Mobile (GM) – anti-riot unit and counter-terrorism group (GIGN)
Garde républicaine – republican guard of France
Gendarmerie des Transports Aériens – airport security force
Gendarmerie de l'Air – used for Air and Space Force security
Gendarmerie Maritime – coast guard unit
Provost Gendarmerie – provides military police services to French Armed Forces personnel in deployments outside France
Overseas Gendamerie - provides military police services in the French overseas dependencies and territories, as well as to embassies of France abroad

The National Gendarmerie is primarily a military and airborne capable police force which serves as a rural and general purpose police force.

National Guard (Garde nationale)

Main article: National Guard (France)

Reactivated in 2016, the National Guard serves as the official primary military and police reserve service of the Armed Forces. It is placed under the jurisdiction of Ministry of the Armed Forces and serves as a reserve force. It also doubles as a force multiplier for law enforcement personnel during contingencies and to reinforce military personnel whenever being deployed within France and abroad.