French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced on X / Twitter details of plans to transfer surplus Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft to Ukraine in early 2025. The jets are currently being upgraded with new unspecified electronic warfare (EW) defense and air-to-ground attack equipment in Cazaux, in southwest France.
In parallel to upgrading the aircraft France has been carrying out what they describe as an “accelerated pilot and ground crew training program” for 26 Ukrainian flyers and maintainers which began in March this year. It was reported in June that the French course was the first step to prepare the pilots for further, advanced F-16 conversion. It now seems likely that it was designed (or adapted) for the Mirages.
The unspecified number of the delta-winged jets are set to become the second Western-made fighter to be provided to Kyiv after the F-16s, the first of which arrived in Ukraine this summer. It has been suggested that the total number of Mirages and schedule for delivery will be aligned to the number of Ukrainians who successfully complete the French training.
The model of Mirage being provided is likely to be the older 2000-C variant which the French air force retired in June 2022, rather than the more modern Mirage 2000-5F which is the current in-service model. The French President Emanuel Macron pledged in June that France would provide the Mirage 2000-5 variant, which suggests that the secondhand Mirage 2000s being provided to Ukraine will have undergone a fairly extensive modernization program.
French Policy Playing Into Iranian and Russian Hands
France primarily uses its Mirages as air-to-air interceptors employing a mix of the MBDA Missile d'Interception, de Combat et d'Auto-défense (MICA) multi-mission missile system for which two types of warhead are available: the MICA RF, an active radar homing seeker and the MICA IR. Both can be employed in short range and beyond visual range (BVR) encounters. It is also known that Mirages allocated to NATO missions have been modified to allow the use of other nations standardized missiles, some of which have been provided to Ukraine separately.
The reports that the aircraft for Ukraine are also being modified to operate air-to-ground munitions may well be to allow them to carry the Anglo-French Storm Shadow / SCALP-EG stealthy cruise missiles and the French AASM Hammer rocket-assisted precision-guided bomb which Paris has promised to deliver to Kyiv in significant numbers.
The military issues website ZonaMilitar suggests the EW self-defense equipment promised to Ukraine is likely to be the Integrated Countermeasures System (ICMS) Mk 2 system. This includes radar warning receivers, jammers, and chaff and flare dispensers and displays showing the eight highest-priority threats to the pilot. The system which is mounted internally is normally fitted to the export versions of the Mirage.
While the Mirage 2000-5s are no match for the F-16 they will be a more than useful addition to Ukraine’s fleet of aircraft filling the capability gap between its more illustrious US cousin and the Soviet-era aircraft that Ukraine has long had to rely upon.
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