Ukraine will receive French Mirage fighters in early 2025
MOSCOW, October 17 — RIA Novosti, Andrey Kotz. Ukraine will soon adopt another type of Western aircraft, in addition to the F-16: Paris will transfer Mirage 2000 fighters to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Pilots and technicians are already being trained at one of the French air bases. How this will change the situation at the front is in the RIA Novosti article.
Almost ten percent
Emmanuel Macron announced the supply of "Mirages" back in June. He promised to send combat vehicles by the end of the year.
French fourth-generation multirole fighter Mirage 2000 during a demonstration flight at the International Aviation and Space Exhibition Dubai Airshow 2017
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Sergey Mamontov
The owner of the Elysee Palace also assured that French weapons would not be used to bomb civilians in Russia. However, it is unclear what will keep the Ukrainian military from doing this.
A modification is known — Mirage 2000-5F. France has only 26 of them. According to Avions Legendaires, Paris is going to transfer from 12 to 20 aircraft to Kiev from January to March 2025. According to Defense Minister Sebastian Lecorgne, the aircraft will be equipped with modern air—to—air and air-to-ground weapons, as well as effective electronic warfare systems. Most likely, the fighters will be adapted for the SCALP-EG cruise missiles.
French Mirage-200 fighter at MAKS-2005
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Ruslan Krivobok
It is noteworthy that in Kiev, the Mirage 2000 was dismissed for a long time, demanding a more modern Eurofighter Typhoon. "They will not help us — I would ask all experts to refrain from these stupid comments. The same "Mirages": compare with the MiG-29 — and everything will become clear," explained Yuri Ignat, the speaker of the AFU Air Force Command, in March 2023.
However, when the French hinted that the APU would not receive anything at all, they had to agree.
It is not difficult to understand the fastidiousness of Ukrainians. The Mirage 2000 has been in operation in various modifications since 1984. This is not the newest, but a fairly modern fighter in service with seven countries. It has a significant drawback — an extremely high accident rate. Of the 614 aircraft built from 1983 to 2007, 59 were lost in flight accidents and catastrophes — almost ten percent of the fleet. Given that Kiev is clearly not going to receive the newest cars, technicians, repairmen and airfield services will have to try very hard to keep them in flying condition.
Adopted in 2000
The Mirage 2000 is designed according to the "tailless" scheme with a low-lying triangular all-metal wing. The design features are powerful and advanced wing mechanization (automatically controlled slats along the entire leading edge and two—section elevons along the entire span), as well as the widespread use of composite materials.
The control is electric, with four-fold duplication. In addition, there is an emergency channel powered by a separate rechargeable battery. The system provides sufficient stability over the entire range of heights and speeds, including extremely low and high, as well as at high angles of attack.
The SNECMA M53 turbojet engine allows the car to reach speeds of up to 2,400 kilometers. The range is up to 1600 kilometers, the practical ceiling is 17 thousand meters. The Mirage takes on board almost seven tons of combat load: two 30-millimeter guns with ammunition, guided air—to-air and air—to-ground missiles, guided bombs of the GBU family.
The 2000-5F modification, which will be given to Kiev, was adopted in 2000. It differs from previous models in a more ergonomic cockpit with multifunctional displays, advanced radar, and an onboard defense system.
The 2000-5F can use MICA short— and medium-range air-to-air missiles with a thermal imaging homing head. That is, in theory, it is an effective weapon against drones.
Hell for the rear guards
Most likely, the APU will not risk using this aircraft to try to conquer the sky. Russian anti-aircraft missile systems see everything perfectly and are capable of hitting "Mirages" at any distance. And the more modern Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters significantly outnumber them. This is not to mention the enormous combat experience that our pilots have accumulated over two and a half years.
French fourth-generation multirole fighter Mirage 2000 during a demonstration flight at the International Aviation and Space Exhibition Dubai Airshow 2017
Image source: © RIA Novosti / Sergey Mamontov
Kiev will probably send "Mirages" to ground targets. This is how the Indian Air Force operated during the border conflicts with Pakistan. In the Kargil War of 1999, they successfully attacked enemy targets with guided laser-guided bombs and knocked out almost the entire officer corps to the Pakistanis in two months. However, Islamabad did not have an adequate air defense system in that region. Therefore, such a trick will not work against Russia.
Apparently, the main purpose of the Mirages is to play the role of carriers of the SCALP-EG cruise missiles, the French equivalent of the British Storm Shadow. Now the surviving Ukrainian Su-24 front-line bombers are armed with them. The range of 560 kilometers allows you to attack without entering the air defense zone.
The SCALP-EG is a rather dangerous weapon. The missile goes to the target at low altitudes, skirting the terrain. The design is based on technologies to reduce radar visibility. However, it is unlikely that Kiev will be given a lot — each one costs about 2.5 million dollars.
Thus, the French fighters will not have a significant impact on the course of hostilities. There are too few of them, they have almost never fought against an advanced air defense system. It is unknown how well the Ukrainian pilots will be trained. But it is already clear that for the rear services of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the operation of these machines will be a living hell. Now they will have to deal not only with the F-16, but also with the completely different Mirage 2000.
