Francevs India
On Global Firepower's 2026 index, India (#4) holds a narrow edge over France (#6).
- India fields 9.2× as many tanks.
- India has 5.4× as many active troops.
- India fields 2.2× as many total aircraft.
Who leads in each area
- People and moneyIndia leads 4 of 4
- Land forcesIndia leads 5 of 5
- Air powerIndia leads 6 of 7
- Naval forcesIndia leads 6 of 7
- Nuclear weaponsFrance leads 2 of 2
Leads count raw numbers in each category. Larger is not always stronger: a modern fleet can beat a bigger, older one.
People and money
Who can be put in uniform, and how much is spent keeping them there.
$68.0B
Military spending
$92.1B264K
Active personnel
1.43M43K
Reserves
1M150K
Paramilitary
2.53MSpending is SIPRI's 2025 estimate in US dollars (France: 2% of GDP; India: 2.3% of GDP).
Land forces
Armour and artillery: the weight an army can put on the ground.
427
Tanks
3,913111K
Armored vehicles
164K74
Self-propelled artillery
1000
Towed artillery
5,6409
Rocket artillery
300Air power
Fixed-wing and rotary aircraft across all branches.
974
Total aircraft
2,183223
Fighters
4760
Attack aircraft
124452
Helicopters
59467
Attack helicopters
7915
Tankers
6118
Transports
277Naval forces
Hull counts, from carriers down to patrol boats.
166
Total fleet
3431
Aircraft carriers
23
Helicopter carriers
09
Submarines
1811
Destroyers
135
Frigates
180
Corvettes
21Nuclear weapons
Estimated warheads in military stockpiles, January 2026.
290
Warheads
190280
Deployed warheads
12Compare other countries
Related matchups
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Profiles: France and India. Sources: Global Firepower 2026, SIPRI Military Expenditure 2025 (Apr 2026), SIPRI Yearbook 2026: World Nuclear Forces.