France, for all its flaws, still converts military spending into power — Britain does not.
Despite centuries of global rivalry, France and Britain have become increasingly similar of late. Two middle powers trying to manage their decline, juggling impossible fiscal situations and with deeply unpopular leaders at their helm. Tet in the last couple of weeks, following the global ruckus that followed America’s ill-thought bombing campaign of Iran and the neutralisation of the Hormuz Straits, France has put to use to great effect its remaining military might, leaving Britain floundering.
President Emmanuel Macron, despite his domestic woes, has not lost his eye for a good political sequencing. Soon after his well-received speech on a form of Europeanisation of France’s military deterrent, he flew to the Charles de Gaulle carrier as it was sailing to the Mediterranean to address its crew and commit to protect the security of Cyprus. Of France’s 21 major surface vessels, 19 are at sea. Simultaneously, in accordance with its defense agreements with its partners in the Gulf, France deployed 12 Rafale planes to gun down Iranian drone strikes, earning considerable regional goodwill in the process. Whilst the carrier group is not set to imminently patrol the Hormuz Straits as was erroneously reported, France’s strategic credibility has come out of the last couple of weeks.
The contrast with the United Kingdom however is painful. Neither aircraft carrier was sent. HMS Prince of Wales was even deemed to be too vulnerable to be sent in the Mediterranean. Regardless, it isn’t clear that an escort could have been mustered to accompany it or enough F-35 mobilised to fill it. Whilst there is merit in arguing that Cyprus remains the best and safest carrier in the Mediterranean sea, the lack of commitment sent all the wrong signals to Britain’s allies in the region. The contrast with the Royal Navy’s illustrious tradition of keeping sea lanes open and the current situation stings nearly as much as witnessing the apparently growing capacity gap with the French.
The comparison is made even more painful when you take into account that Britain has been consistently outspending France on defence over the last half century. Last year Britain spent £60 billion on its military against £53 billion in France. Whilst there’s rough parity regarding equipment, the French manage to field around 200,000 active personnel: Britain can only count on 150,000. This is nothing new: some 20 years ago, just in time to celebrate the bicentenary of Trafalgar, the French Navy overtook in size the Royal Navy. Nelson must weep, if the dead weep. But since, the geopolitical stakes have surged massively.
some 20 years ago, just in time to celebrate the bicentenary of Trafalgar, the French Navy overtook in size the Royal Navy
The delta is in fact even worse when you take into account France’s spiralling pensions crisis, with the State artificially increasing the pre-contributions salary of its military and taking the difference to pay for pensions. The French State pays a whopping 126% contribution rate for its soldiers. Private employers pay 8.5%. A form of creative accounting that helps France reach its NATO target 2% ratio for defense spending over GDP. As such, France’s nominal actual military spending of £53 billion is closer to £43 billion. Despite a considerable chunk of France’s military budget paying for yesterday’s soldiers (in contrast only 9% of Britain’s MOD budget pays for pensions) it is the French, not the British, who have the capacity to rush to Cyprus’ aid. So where does the money go?
It’s never easy comparing administrative documents from different countries, with different labels covering different realities, but a few trends emerge. Regarding equipment, the MOD spent an estimated £27.4 billion, a very similar figure to the French for a similar amount of equipment. But when breaking down the numbers, the French spend in absolute terms less than Perfidious Albion on its personnel despite the former having 50,000 more mouths to feed. In 2025 the French spent £12 billion on its military personnel, versus £15.8 billion for the MOD, with salaries in the army starting at around £26,000 in the British army versus £17,000 for the French.
The French army can also draw on plenty of combat experience since 2006, not least in the Sahel, where the French have run sophisticated military operations in countries sometimes three times as large as France itself. Britain, in contrast, has not been able to lead operations of this scale on its own for decades.
Yet despite this humbling picture, France has its own issues. French journalist Jean-Dominique Merchet famously compared France’s army to a “Bonsai army”. Just like the Japanese trees, the French army looks like the real thing, but it’s a miniature version of a tree. France’s military may cover a lot of domains, but without a lot of depth. And despite its operational control of interventions like those in Mali, in practice those operations were greatly facilitated by American help for logistics and intelligence. France’s tanks are largely outdated. Most importantly, France’s political-fiscal crisis leaves very little room for a rapid budgetary surge beyond the current effort. As for France’s aircraft carrier being ready to sail to Cyprus, there’s an element of luck as the Charles de Gaulle has been immobilised for months at a time for maintenance without a backup option.
The French would therefore be wise not to gloat. In Westminster, meanwhile, it is time for some hard thinking on how to make sure Britain’s army gets a bit more bang for its buck – or oomph for it’s euro.
