This is post number one of the series where I compare the Axis and other armed forces of World War II with what they faced--and would be facing today.
I'll provide master lists of items used by both sides being compared, which will be sourced from Wikipedia, that you can read at your leisure. This is me balancing trying to include a lot of info whilst not turning each entry into what will probably be an even larger novel than it'll already be.
These articles will mostly talk about land based and aviation weapons, since those are my main areas of "expertise", though I'll also include naval/seaborne weapons whenever possible. So here's the lists of French, German and Italian armed forces equipment of the World War II period:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_German_military_equipment_of_World_War_II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_military_aircraft_of_Germany
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Italian_Army_equipment_in_World_War_II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Regia_Aeronautica_aircraft_used_in_World_War_II
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_vehicles_of_Italy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_armoured_fighting_vehicles_of_Italy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:World_War_II_naval_ships_of_Italy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_World_War_II_weapons_of_France
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aircraft_of_the_French_Air_Force_during_World_War_II
In overview, France was in logistical chaos by the time World War II hit. For example, even though they were on the verge of being the second country after the US to adopt a semiautomatic/self-loading rifle (after the US with the M1 Garand) with the MAS 40 rifle, all French troops were armed in reality with a mix of World War I era and earlier bolt action rifles. Mostly, these were Berthier bolt action rifles from World War I, namely the M1907/15 M16 (not to be confused with the US M16 rifle that came years after World War II ended) that was introduced in 1916. Some of these were also the M34 variant. The M16 was in 8x50mm Lebel and was fed from a 5 round fixed magazine loaded by an en-bloc clip. The M34 was rebarreled to 7.5x54mm French and used a 5 round fixed mag loaded by a Mauser type stripper clip charger. Some reservist carried M1886 Lebel rifles, which were outdated soon after they were introduced and featured a by then certainly idiosyncratic tube magazine feed.
This also leads to the fact that the ordinance system wasn't in great shape, either. The Army had two rifle cartridges, 3 pistol cartridges (8x27mm M1892, .32 ACP, and 7.65x20mm French, which was and basically still is a proprietary cartridge). The Air Force wasn't much better. Not just did they have a mix of French and American aircraft of various vintage, they had 7.5mm French, .303 British and 8x50mm Lebel rounds for their machine guns to deal with.
Now, enough with the gloom and doom for France. What if Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy confronted modern day France? A France with one of the largest all-professional armed forces in Europe, armed with modern automatic weapons and Mach 2+ capable fighter aircraft? Let's just say that France probably wouldn't have fallen in a matter of weeks.
Here's a list of modern French Armed Forces equipment:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_equipment_of_the_French_Army
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Air_and_Space_Force#Aircraft_inventory
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_French_Navy_ships
The modern French Army benefits from, maybe ironically, items that the German Army introduced at various points in World War II or shortly before. The main rifle for the modern French Army, also ironically, is German in origin. The Heckler & Koch HK416F (F indicating French model) is the French Army spec version of the popular HK416 rifle, which is a gas piston operated AR-15 derivative. The French Army version differs primarily in that its got an integral rifle grenade launcher on the barrel--the French have always loved rifle grenades in one form or another since World War I. It also fires in both semi- and fully automatic modes, which allows it to replace semiautomatic (let alone bolt action) rifles and submachine guns--self loaders and SMGs were short in the French inventory during World War II. This is also helped by the fact that most German troops in World War II, let alone the 1940 era of the conflict, were armed with bolt action Mauser K98k rifles.
But what about caliber? The Mauser is in 7.92x57mm Mauser, while the 416 is in 5.56x45mm NATO/.223 Remington. Well, the Mauser will hit harder, but even at most combat ranges in World War II (which rarely exceeded 300-500 yards/meters), that matters little compared to the 416's superior fire power. Not to mention that in overseas missions recently, French troops have reported that they've successfully engaged targets to beyond 600 meters with the 416.
The Germans had the MG34, one of the first true general purpose machine guns. To counter that, modern France has the FN MAG GPMG and the FN Minimi squad automatic weapon. Not to mention that modern France is a member of NATO, which means service rifles/SAWs are in 5.56x45mm NATO (.223 Remington), GPMGs and sniper rifles are in 7.62x51mm NATO (.308 Winchester), and pistols and SMGs are in 9x19mm NATO (9mm Luger). So no more logistical issues that plagued France back in 1940.
And fighter aircraft? France of the modern era has the Dassault Mirage 2000 series and the Dassault Rafale. Both of which are supersonic capable (Rafale has a top speed of over Mach 1.8, Mirage of over Mach 2), and though they can't dogfight a Messerschmitt Me-109, just passing over a squadron of them at supersonic speed will cause a pressure wave that would take out said squadron.
Yes, I know that history is what it is, but it's interesting to think what things could've been like if modern equipment and tactics intermingled with what the past had.
