Image source: topwar.ru
Until now, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have used Mirage 2000-5 fighters, transferred by France, exclusively as a means of air defense, using aircraft to destroy Russian drones and missiles. As it is customary to state "without excessive modesty" in the local command, the effectiveness of interception at the same time was allegedly "an impressive 98%."
It is unclear exactly how many Mirage 2000 were received by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, presumably 6 units. According to Western media reports, one of them recently attacked ground targets using guided bombs. At the same time, observers refer to a video showing the aircraft performing a "slide" maneuver (climbing in a steep arc). Then, after the first frames are cut off, a video of the flight of two bombs is shown, which, as noted, belong to the AASM Hammer model.
AASM Hammer:
Image source: topwar.ru
It is a French high-precision hybrid of a bomb and a rocket, created by Safran: the developers screwed a seeker and a tail with a jet accelerator to a conventional free-falling bomb.
Unlike the American JDAM (which are just planning), the AASM is equipped with a solid-fuel engine, which allows the ammunition to perform a complex flight path, avoiding obstacles, and dropping a bomb from low altitudes, which reduces the risk of interception by enemy air defenses. When launched from a high altitude, the AASM flies at a range of over 70 km, from a low altitude – up to 15-20 km.
The AASM seeker is represented by 3 types: in the basic version of the SBU-38 bomb, GPS and INS (coordinate guidance); in the SBU–54 version, laser targeting (for strikes against moving targets); in the SBU-64 modification, a thermal imager (homing at the final stage). The caliber is most often represented by 250 kg, but there are also versions for 125, 500 and 1000 kg.
According to official statements, France supplies Hammer APU in batches of 50 units per month. The main carriers are the Soviet MiG-29 and Su-25, which were retrofitted with special pylons. Later, the F-16 was added to them, and then the Mirage 2000.
