A French Air Force Rafale, manufactured by French company Dassault AviationFrom The Daily Mail:
China and France have overtaken Britain to become the top military spenders behind the United States.
China raised spending by 10 per cent last year to £52.9billion, taking the second spot previously held by Britain, a research group said.
Third-placed France spent £40.8billion, pipping Britain's arms budget of £40.6billion.
And Russia climbed to fifth from seventh in 2007, spending £36.5billion, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said.
But the U.S. continued to dwarf all military budgets, spending £378billion, an annual rise of 9.7 per cent.
It accounted for nearly 42 per cent of the total global arms spend of £909billion.
Globally, spending rose 4 per cent in 2008.
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My Comment: The figures do not show the whole story. Billions of pounds are being spent by Britain for ongoing operations in Afghanistan .... an expenditure that France does not have (to that degree).