Strong Ally Stretched Thin: An Overview of France's Defense Capabilities from a Burdensharing Perspective

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Strong Ally Stretched Thin: An Overview of France's Defense Capabilities from a Burdensharing Perspective

S. Pezard / M. Shurkin / D. Ochmanek

This research report is part of a larger study on Understanding and Optimizing Burdensharing: Developing a Deeper Understanding of Allied and Partner Contributions, led by C. King Mallory and David Ochmanek. The French military is among Western Europe's most capable; in this report, we examine the role that this military might play as a coalition partner in a hypothetical high-intensity conventional conflict in Europe. We drew on a wide range of publications in French and English, as well as on conversations with French defense experts (journalists, think tank staff, and government officials) and uniformed French officers to understand not just the French military's capabilities and capacity to wage war in general but also its ability to wage high-intensity conventional warfare in particular. France's prowess with respect to expeditionary warfare in Africa is well established, but how well can the French fight armored units with peer technology?