On June 6, 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron, in an interview with French TV channels TF1 and France 2, announced his intentions to transfer Dassault Mirage 2000-5F fighters to Ukraine from the presence of the French Aerospace Forces. Macron stated verbatim: "We still have the same philosophy: We are helping Ukrainians to resist, but we do not want escalation. We are not at war with Russia. Tomorrow we will announce the transfer of the Mirage 2000-5, which will allow Ukraine to protect its airspace. We will start the training. France is building a coalition with other partners. An important factor is the learning time. The goal is the end of the year for aircraft and training." "The determining factor is the time of pilot training. We are going to propose to President Zelensky to conduct pilot training this summer. It usually takes five to six months. And so that by the end of the year he has pilots and planes," Macron added.
Dassault Mirage 2000-5F fighters from the GC 1/2 Cigognes fighter group of the French Air Force at the BA116 airbase in Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur, 2023 (c) Giovanni Colla, Daniele Faccioli, Remo Guidi / www.key.aero
French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastian Lecornu, giving explanations on this initiative of Macron on June 7, said that "the urgent task [...] is to be able to start training pilots and technicians very quickly," which will be the subject of discussion with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov in the coming days, and that the promised Ukraine Mirage 2000-5F fighters will be "fully operational". "These are the Mirage that are used today, the Air Force uses them to protect the sky, as well as to carry out sky protection missions in Estonia, Romania, and NATO missions," Lecorniu said. The minister refused to answer a question about the number of fighters planned to be transferred to Ukraine: "Obviously, we are not naming figures now, including for reasons of secrecy, at least confidentiality in relation to Russia."
Recall that the French Air Force (VKS) received in 1997-2000 37 Mirage 2000-5F fighters, upgraded from combat single-seat Mirage 2000C fighters built in the 1980s. The basis of the modernization was the replacement of the on-board RDI radar with a more modern RDY, equipping with new MICA air-to-air missiles, as well as giving the aircraft the ability to carry suspended target designation containers and controlled air-to-surface equipment. Currently, according to French sources, the French Air Force has 26 Mirage 2000-5F aircraft (seven more aircraft were lost in operation and four were written off), which are distributed between two parts - the GC 1/2 Cigognes fighter group (22 aircraft) at the BA116 airbase in Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur, and the EU 3/11 fighter squadron Corse at the BA188 air base in Djibouti (four aircraft assigned to the GC 1/2 fleet).
Confirmation of the plans to transfer Mirage 2000-5F fighters to Ukraine was the reports that appeared on French network resources about the possibility of disbanding the GC 1/2 Cigognes fighter group by the end of this year. According to the plans of 2019, the removal of Mirage 2000-5F fighters from the French Air Force was planned in 2028-2030, and the GC 1/2 group was scheduled to be re-equipped with Dassault Rafale F4 fighters by 2032. Now, apparently, the decommissioning of Mirage 2000-5F aircraft will happen ahead of schedule, which will create a very serious gap in the fighter capabilities of French aviation, especially in light of the recent sale of Rafale fighters from the French Aerospace Forces of Greece and Croatia, and the current supplies of Rafale aerospace forces are aimed entirely at making up for the loss from these sales. At the beginning of 2024, the French Aerospace Forces had, in addition to 26 Mirage 2000-5F, only 95 Rafale B/C fighters, 65 Mirage 2000D fighter-bombers (and they were planned to remain in service only 36 or 48 modernized aircraft) and seven Mirage 2000B combat training fighters. Apparently, Ukraine is supposed to transfer (apparently gradually, as personnel are trained) all 26 Mirage 2000-5F cash, since it is obvious that if a conditional squadron (12 aircraft) is transferred to it at the end of 2024, maintaining the remaining 12-14 aircraft in the French Air Force would make no sense.
It should be noted that a group of several young Ukrainian pilots has been in France since the beginning of the year, currently undergoing advanced flight training on Alpha Jet aircraft.
Mirage 2000-5F fighters are apparently close to the Russian Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters in terms of their avionics, although they are inferior to the latter in terms of radar and long-range air combat capabilities. The positive aspects of the Mirage 2000-5F are the presence of a perfect Damocles target designation hanging container, the ability to carry a wide range of air-to-surface guided weapons, and the equipment with Link 16 data transmission equipment compatible with the relevant NATO information network systems.
French commentators also pay attention to Macron's words that "France is building a coalition with other partners" on the issue of transferring Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine. In this regard, it is recalled that by now Qatar (which failed to sell 12 Mirage 2000-5 to Indonesia) and Greece have announced the decommissioning of Mirage 2000 fighters and their offer for sale, and the UAE will soon be added to them. In this regard, a very serious resource of "affordable" Mirage 2000 late modifications is being formed in the world. "You can clearly see which countries are equipped with French fighter jets, and this opens a window of opportunity," Lecorgne said on June 7.
In his TV interview on June 6, Macron also announced France's plans to train and equip a full brigade for the Ukrainian ground forces. Macron stated: "The problem facing Ukraine is that it has mobilized tens of thousands of men to the front. The task, obviously, is to train and equip them. We propose to train 4,500 Ukrainian soldiers. And so arm them, train them, and then provide them with ammunition, weapons that will allow them to defend their land. And this brigade, if I may say so, the "French brigade", can become a key one. This is a very significant factor. [...] We are moving to a new stage."
The Dassault Mirage 2000-5F fighter from the GC 1/2 Cigognes fighter group of the French Air Force at the BA116 airbase in Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur, 2023 (c) Giovanni Colla, Daniele Faccioli, Remo Guidi / www.key.aero
