France has delivered the first Mirage 2000 combat aircraft to Ukraine. The Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, announced that the first Mirage 2000 combat planes have been delivered to Kyiv, previously modified to have more combat capabilities. The airplanes were transferred after several months of training of Ukrainian pilots in France. It is unknown at the moment if they are armed with SCALP-EG cruise, smooth bombs, guided or propelled by air-tierrasí modular armament (AASM).
What is known is that the Mirage 2000-5 modified that France has already sent to Ukraine are mainly designed for air defense and can be used to deploy the aforementioned SCALP cruise missiles. According to Lecornu, the Ukrainian pilots are aboard the airplanes and will participate in the defense of the Ukrainian sky. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, had promised the assignment of these aircraft to Ukraine in June 2024, to help Ukraine protect their soil and airspace.
Of the 26 Mirage 2000-5 aircraft that the French Air Force has, six will be given to Ukraine. This figure was revealed by a budget report of the National Assembly published in Autumn, although the Ministry of the Armed Forces has not confirmed or denied this information for security reasons.
The Mirage 2000-5 aircraft have been modified to include “Air-Tierra” Combat Teams to carry out air attacks, and “electronic anti-war defense” to resist Russian interference. These modifications were made at the Cazaux Air Base, in southwest France, while pilots and mechanics were trained at the Nancy base, in the east of the country.
Like the F-16AM Fighting Falcon fighters delivered to Ukraine, the Mirage are not at all airplanes with standards equivalent to the various Mig-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Flanker of the Ukrainian Air Force, which are ancient planes of Soviet origin. Ukraine continues to need more aerial defense, as its government has been requesting more means of air defense and combat aircraft since it faces continuous bombings that seek to damage their energy infrastructure. Other countries have provided F-16 combat airplanes to Kyiv.
