French Armed Forces
| French Armed Forces | |
|---|---|
| Forces armées françaises | |
Emblem of the French Defence Staff | |
| Founded | 26 May 1445 (580 years, 293 days) |
| Service branches | |
| Headquarters | Hexagone Balard, Paris |
| Leadership | |
| Chief of the Armed Forces | President Emmanuel Macron |
| Minister of the Armed Forces | Catherine Vautrin |
| Chief of the Defence Staff | Général d'armée aérienne Fabien Mandon |
| Personnel | |
| Military age | 17.5 |
| Conscription | None |
| Active personnel | 264,000 (2025) |
| Reserve personnel | 43,444 (2025) |
| Expenditure | |
| Budget | €61.8 billion ($71.7 billion) (2025, including pensions) €50.5 billion ($58.5 billion) (2025, excluding pensions) |
| Percent of GDP | 2.06% (2024) |
| Industry | |
| Domestic suppliers | |
| Foreign suppliers | United States United Kingdom Brazil Switzerland Germany Netherlands Italy Norway Canada Belgium Austria NATO European Union |
| Annual imports | US$84 million (2014–2022) |
| Annual exports | US$2.60 billion (2014–2022) |
| Related articles | |
| History | Military history of France Warfare directory of France Wars involving France Battles involving France |
| Ranks | Army ranks Navy ranks Air and Space Force ranks |
The French Armed Forces (French: Forces armées françaises, pronounced [fɔʁs aʁme fʁɑ̃sɛːz]) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' military reserve force. As stipulated by France's constitution, the president of France serves as commander-in-chief of the French military. The Chief of the Defence Staff, currently Général d'armée aérienne Fabien Mandon, serves as the Armed Forces' military head.
France has the ninth largest defense budget in the world and the second largest in the European Union (EU). It also has the largest military by size in the EU. As of 2025, the total active personnel of the French Armed Forces is 264,000. While the reserve personnel is 43,000, for a total of 307,000 personnel (excluding the National Gendarmerie). Including the National Gendarmerie (155,000 in 2024), the total manpower of the French Armed Forces combined is 462,000 strong. A 2015 Credit Suisse report ranked the French Armed Forces as the world's sixth most powerful military.
The Armed Forces continuously rank as one the institutions in which the French people have the highest confidence. A 2023 IFOP poll showed that 89% of the French trusted their Armed Forces.