Can French Mirage-2000 aircraft help the Ukrainian military defeat the Russian Air Force in the skies above Ukraine?
According to British media, Ukraine is actively looking for Western combat planes. The Mirage 2000C versions, which the French Air Force will formally stop employing in June 2022, are most likely to be sent to Ukraine if France does send fighter jets there. Military experts estimate that France will most likely send an older version of the Mirage fighter jet to Ukraine if French President Macron decides to send fighter jets there.
France currently operates 106 Mirage 2000 aircraft, all of which were developed by Dassault Aviation. However, by 2030, all of the aforementioned Mirage 2000s will be replaced by the cutting-edge Rafale fighter. On June 23, 2022, France decommissioned its remaining 66 Dassault Mirage 2000D ground attack variants and 26 Dassault Mirage 2000-5 interceptors from service.
However, the French military is now working on a program to update 55 Mirage 2000D fighters. Deliveries of modified aircraft are anticipated to end by 2025, with the first one arriving in 2021.
This program’s objective was to update the avionics of the Mirage 2000D and enable the use of MICA anti-aircraft missiles rather than the currently available MAGIC, which was deemed to be out of date.
The retired Mirage 2000C aircraft can be shipped to Ukraine without compromising the French Air Force’s military prowess.French businesses are able to produce their own aircraft. As a result, no outside party’s export authorization is required. F-16s are used by some European military services, but transferring them to Ukraine would need US consent. As a result, Ukraine may find France to be a more appealing choice.
The baseline French Mirage 2000C had a number of serious flaws, most notably the absence of radar-guided weapons for long-range engagements, which made it inferior to modern Russian combat aircraft. Following the 2012 decommissioning of the antiquated Super 530D radar-guided missile, the Magic II short-range thermal air-to-air missile and the two internal 30 mm cannons served as the main armament of the Mirages pictured above.
The Ukrainian military can undertake ground attack operations thanks to the Mirage 2000C. The GBU-12 Paveway II laser-guided bomb, which weighs more than 200 kg and has considerable destructive capability, can be used for ground strike operations.
Military analysts also speculate that the Mirage 2000C may have received upgrades to provide it more adaptable combat capability to adapt to changing battlefield conditions.
The Mirage 2000C can also be equipped with extra armaments given enough time and the right permission. But the jet’s absence of a targeting group in its current configuration poses a serious operational challenge. When up against Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S, they will hardly be able to survive.
