France on Thursday delivered a first consignment of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine to help Kyiv defend its airspace against Russia, Defence Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Thursday.
“The first of these aircraft have arrived in Ukraine today,” Lecornu said on X, without saying how many had been delivered. After France helped train Ukrainian pilots over recent months, “they will now help defend Ukraine’s skies”, he added.
Last June, President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would transfer Mirage 2000-5 aircraft to Ukraine and train their Ukrainian pilots as part of military cooperation with Kyiv.
Of the 26 Mirage 2000-5 aircraft owned by the French air force, six were to be transferred to Ukraine, according to a budget report published by France’s National Assembly lower house.
According to earlier reports, the planes will be equipped with ground strike capabilities, namely SCALP/Storm Shadow long-range missiles and French guided bombs AASM Hammer.
France and the U.K. have previously supplied Kyiv with SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles that have a range of up to 250 kilometers (150 miles) and have been successfully deployed against Russian military targets in Ukraine.
The French defence ministry neither denied nor confirmed the figure for security reasons.
Ukrainian pilots and mechanics have been trained in eastern France to use the jets, which have undergone modifications including to combat Russian jamming.
France announced the delivery of the first fighter jets as talk of a negotiated end to the nearly three-year war has risen with Donald Trump back in the White House and Ukraine’s troops struggling on the battlefield in the east.
In August, Ukraine received its first consignment of US-made F-16 fighter jets.
What is the Mirage 2000-5?
The Mirage 2000, a fourth-generation multirole supersonic jet, was introduced by the French manufacturer Dassault in the 1970s. With over 600 aircraft produced across all variants, it serves nine countries, available in single- and twin-seat variants.
The Mirage 2000-5, introduced in 1999, represents an upgraded version featuring advanced avionics, enhanced firing capabilities for both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions, and a modern sensor and control system.
“The (Mirage 2000)-5 variant has a high-quality radar, (is) fitted with drop tanks, has a reasonable range, and carries a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons,” Peter Layton, a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told the Kyiv Independent last year.
A significant enhancement of the Mirage 2000-5 is the inclusion of the Thomson-CSF Radar Doppler Multi-target (RDY), augmenting its capabilities for deep-strike and close-support missions.
Equipped with a variety of air-to-air missiles and weapons, such as Mica missiles with a range of up to 60 kilometers or older Magic short-range missiles, the Mirage 2000-5 can be configured to meet diverse mission requirements.
Its capacity for carrying drop tanks further extends its operational range.
In terms of air-to-ground operations, the Mirage 2000 can deploy various weaponry, including SCALP missiles, previously supplied to Ukraine by France, and guided bombs.
While the French Air Force has around 40 Mirage 2000-5s, only 26 one-seaters are in active service. The French military is reportedly planning to phase them out by the end of the decade, replacing them with the more advanced Dassault Rafale and thereby potentially freeing up the older Mirage 2000 aircraft for transfer to Ukraine.
Photo: A Dassault Mirage 2000/Dassault Aviation – C. Cosmao
Source: France24/AFP– Kyiv Independent
