Russia holds a 72–28 advantage over France on the Relative Advantage Index, a decisive margin.
The margin is driven by nuclear warheads (95% of the combined total, 5.5k) and military spending (74% of the combined total, $190bn). France leads on economic size (GDP).
| Factor | France | Share | Russia | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Military spending SIPRI Milex | $68.0bn | 26%74% | $190bn | 25% |
Economic size (GDP) World Bank WDI | $3.2tn | 59%41% | $2.2tn | 20% |
Active personnel COW NMC | 203.0k | 15%85% | 1.2m | 15% |
Nuclear warheads FAS Nuclear Notebook | 290 | 5%95% | 5.5k | 25% |
Logistics & power projection OurAirports | 200 | 39%61% | 307 | 15% |
Shares are each side's portion of the combined total for that factor. Weights are renormalised across the factors both sides publish — see the methodology. Data read 2026-08-04.
Every combination inside the top 30 of the Composite Power Index.
Bordering states — the comparisons people actually search for.