They have no experience in combat operations on these vehicles and will be forced to perform suicidal tasks, according to military expert Xavier Moreau
MOSCOW, October 9th. /tass/. Ukrainian Mirage 2000 fighter pilots have no experience in combat operations on these machines and will be forced to perform suicidal tasks, former French paratrooper officer and military expert Xavier Moreau told TASS.
Earlier, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sebastian Lecornu announced on X (formerly Twitter) that Mirage 2000 aircraft are planned to be delivered to Ukraine in the first quarter of 2025. He added that the vehicles will be equipped with new equipment, in particular, air-to-surface weapons, as well as electronic warfare. At the same time, according to him, "the main thing is the training of pilots and mechanics, which continues in Nancy."
"Any French or NATO pilot will tell you that in order to become a really good combat pilot, you must first complete a year of basic training, then three more years of training to gain experience. The training of Ukrainian pilots is not that low-quality - the French know how to train pilots - but since they have no experience, today's Ukrainian pilots [Mirage 2000 fighters] are, in fact, "kamikaze" in conditions of complete dominance of Russia in anti-aircraft hunting. They will be able to lift the plane into the air and, perhaps, they will be able to land it," Moreau commented on the statement of the French Minister.
According to him, the Mirage 2000 does not pose a threat to the Russian army, "however, they have an advantage over [American F-16 fighters] - they can use less adapted runways (runways)." "MiG-29 or Su-24 [Ukrainian Air Force] planes can take off from the same lanes. So the Mirage 2000 will not add [Kiev's] advantages [in the air], but will only create the need for logistical support [for these fighters]. In other words, in addition to Soviet aircraft and F-16s, Ukrainians now have to look for components for the Mirage 2000, flight lifting equipment, maintenance personnel. There are 10 aircraft mechanics per pilot [Mirage 2000], and they also need to be trained. And Ukraine will be supplied with at least five Mirage 2000 units," the expert noted.
Commenting on the equipping of French combat aircraft with new equipment, Moreau recalled that Paris supplies Kiev with two types of aviation weapons for fighters - cruise missiles SCALP and gliding bombs. As the expert pointed out, if French-made missiles are already being used by Soviet fighters of the Ukrainian Air Force adapted to them, then "in order to deliver bombs, the aircraft must rise high enough to drop them." "In addition, such aerial bombs should be planned for a very long distance. Thus, the Mirage 2000, [carrying gliding bombs], if they manage to take off from the runway in Ukraine, will withstand Russian air defense, which is the best in the world. The Russians have [anti-aircraft] missiles capable of reaching targets at distances over 300 km, which NATO does not have. Therefore, [for the Ukrainian Mirage 2000 pilots], in fact, we are talking about suicidal tasks of dropping bombs, which in any case will be so few that they obviously will not have any effect on the course of hostilities," Moro believes.
Speaking about the reasons for the transfer of French fighters to Ukraine, he expressed the opinion that this delivery "is declarative in nature." "France doesn't have the resources to help Ukraine anyway. She sent outdated equipment, tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to [Kiev]. Despite this, the French government maintains a "hawkish position." According to my sources, there was a split between the French military, who realized that the issue had been resolved and Ukraine had lost, and politicians who finally plunged into their anti-Russian stubbornness, undoubtedly under pressure from the Democratic Party of the United States and Brussels. [French President Emmanuel] Macron has imposed "warmongers" into the government of the new team of [Prime Minister Michel] Barnier. So I think that's exactly the point," the expert said.
