Army (Armee de Terre; includes Foreign Legion), Navy (Marine Nationale), Air and Space Force (Armee de l'Air et de l'Espace); includes Air Defense), National Guard (Reserves), National Gendarmerie (paramilitary police force that is a branch of the Armed Forces but under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Interior; also has additional duties to the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Justice) (2021)
Luxembourg Army (l'Armée Luxembourgeoise) (2021)
Military service age and obligation
18-25 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription (abolished 2001); 1-year service obligation; women serve in noncombat posts (2019)
18-26 years of age for male and female voluntary military service; no conscription (abolished 1969); Luxembourg citizen or EU citizen with 3-year residence in Luxembourg (2021)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP
2.04% of GDP (2020 est.)
1.83% of GDP (2019)
1.81% of GDP (2018)
1.78% of GDP (2017)
1.79% of GDP (2016)
0.57% of GDP (2020 est.)
0.54% of GDP (2019)
0.5% of GDP (2018)
0.51% of GDP (2017)
0.39% of GDP (2016)
Military - note
France was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty), which created NATO in 1949; in 1966, President Charles DE GAULLE decided to withdraw France from NATO's integrated military structure, reflecting his desire for greater military independence, particularly vis-à-vis the US, and the refusal to integrate France's nuclear deterrent or accept any form of control over its armed forces; it did, however, sign agreements with NATO setting out procedures in the event of Soviet aggression; beginning with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, France distanced itself from the 1966 decision and has regularly contributed troops to NATO's military operations, being one of the largest troop-contributing states; in 2009 it officially announced its decision to fully participate in NATO structures
Luxembourg is a member of NATO and was one of the original 12 countries to sign the North Atlantic Treaty (also known as the Washington Treaty) in 1949
Military and security service personnel strengths
the French military has approximately 205,000 active duty troops (115,000 Army; 35,000 Navy; 40,000 Air Force; 15,000 other, such as joint staffs, medical service, etc.); approximately 100,000 National Gendarmerie; approximately 75,000 National Guard (2020)
the Luxembourg Army has approximately 900 active personnel (2021)
Military equipment inventories and acquisitions
the French military's inventory consists almost entirely of domestically-produced weapons systems, including some jointly-produced with other European countries; there is a limited mix of armaments from other Western countries, particularly the US; since 2010, the US is the leading foreign supplier of military hardware to France; France has a defense industry capable of manufacturing the full spectrum of air, land, and naval military weapons systems (2020)
the inventory of Luxembourg's Army is a small mix of European and US equipment; since 2010, it has received small quantities of equipment from Germany, Norway, and Sweden (2020)
