At the beginning of June last year, President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that France was preparing to transfer Mirage 2000 fighters to the Ukrainian Air Force. In recent months, various details have emerged indicating the imminent delivery of the combat aircraft from the French Air and Space Force. This morning, on February 6, the French Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, confirmed the delivery and arrival of the first Mirage 2000 jets in Ukraine, joining the country’s war effort.
Based on statements made on the social network X, the minister stated: “On June 6, 2024, Emmanuel Macron announced the delivery of French Mirage 2000 fighters to Ukraine. The first of them arrived in Ukraine today. With Ukrainian pilots on board, trained for several months in France, they will now take part in the defense of Ukrainian skies.” This reference highlights the decision that initiated the transfer process of the aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force, as well as the training of pilots and personnel on the platform.
The French official’s announcement was accompanied by confirmation from the official account of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, which acknowledged the arrival of the French fighter jets in the country and expressed gratitude for this new support to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
While no further details have been provided regarding the total number of aircraft in this initial delivery, reports from last October indicated that it would consist of three units. Since then, analysis has focused on which Mirage 2000 version would be transferred to Ukraine, with speculation ranging from the retired Mirage 2000C variant of the French Air and Space Force to the more modern and upgraded Mirage 2000-5.
This distinction is significant, as the Mirage 2000 is expected to complement the F-16s currently being integrated into the Ukrainian Air Force for ground attack and air support missions. The M2000-5 variant, in particular, features the RDY pulse-Doppler mechanical scanning radar with look-down/shoot-down capability, offering superior air-to-ground detection and tracking compared to the RDM and RDI radars found in the Mirage 2000C.
Over the past few months, the French government has emphasized that the selected fighters would be upgraded and adapted to Ukraine’s complex and challenging theater of operations. This includes enhancements to their self-protection and electronic warfare capabilities, with reports suggesting the installation of the ICMS Mk 3 countermeasure system, which is present in the export version of the Mirage 2000-5.
Finally, regarding armament, various French media outlets have reported that the Mirage 2000 transfer package includes MICA beyond-visual-range (BVR) air-to-air missiles, as well as additional batches of SCALP-EG stealth cruise missiles, which are already being used by Ukrainian Su-24 Fencer aircraft as a launch platform.
Images used for illustration purposes.
