France vs Italy Military Comparison
Side-by-side military strength: active personnel, defense budgets, air force aircraft, and naval assets.
France
200K active troops
$60B budget
VS
Italy
200K active troops
$30B budget
406
Tanks
200
6,300
Armored Vehicles
3,500
121
Artillery
159
13
Rocket Systems
21
229
Fighter Jets
96
566
Helicopters
354
180
Warships
143
10
Submarines
8
Nuclear Arsenal
France
LARGEST
290
WARHEADS
Italy
NON-NUCLEAR
0
WARHEADS
Warheads Over Time
Estimated total warhead inventories — Federation of American Scientists / SIPRI
Defense Budget vs GDP
Historical defense spending and how it compares to each country's GDP. The % of GDP view normalises for economic size so smaller economies aren't drowned out by absolute dollar figures.
Defense Budget Over Time ($B)
Defense Budget as % of GDP
Source: World Bank Open Data API (MS.MIL.XPND.CD)
Military Active Personnel
France
LARGEST
203.85K
TROOPS
Italy
83.4% OF LARGEST
170K
TROOPS
France has 1.20× the active personnel of Italy
Air Force Total Aircraft
France
LARGEST
1.06K
AIRCRAFT
Italy
81.7% OF LARGEST
862
AIRCRAFT
France has 1.22× the aircraft of Italy
Total Naval Assets
Land Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
France
|
Italy
|
|---|---|---|
| Active Personnel | 203,850 | 170,000 |
| Reserve Personnel | 35,000 | 18,300 |
| Total Military Personnel | 240,000 | 188,300 |
| Defense Budget (USD) | $55,000,000,000 | $29,800,000,000 |
| Tanks | 406 | 200 |
| Armored Vehicles | 6,300 | 3,500 |
| Self-Propelled Artillery | 109 | 89 |
| Towed Artillery | 12 | 70 |
| Rocket Projectors | 13 | 21 |
Air Force — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
France
|
Italy
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Aircraft | 1,055 | 862 |
| Fighters | 229 | 96 |
| Attack Aircraft | 246 | 58 |
| Transport Aircraft | 163 | 87 |
| Trainer Aircraft | 181 | 186 |
| Helicopters | 566 | 354 |
| Attack Helicopters | 69 | 59 |
Naval Forces — Detailed Metrics
| Metric |
France
|
Italy
|
|---|---|---|
| Total Naval Assets | 180 | 143 |
| Aircraft Carriers | 1 | 2 |
| Destroyers | 12 | 4 |
| Frigates | 11 | 10 |
| Corvettes | 0 | 0 |
| Submarines | 10 | 8 |
| Patrol Vessels | 19 | 20 |
| Mine Warfare Vessels | 18 | 10 |
See economy, trade, demographics, and more for this comparison.
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Data compiled from World Bank, IMF, Global Firepower, SIPRI, Numbeo, and Pew Research.
Last updated June 2026.
Sources & methodology