After recently announcing its plans to send some of its Mirage 2000 fighter jets to the Ukrainian Air Force, with the process expected to begin early next year with an initial batch of three units, France has confirmed that these jets will be modified to carry MICA BVR missiles and SCALP-EG stealth missiles. The news was confirmed by the French Armed Forces Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, during an interview with local media in the region where the modifications will be carried out.
In his own words: “The Mirage 2000 jets to be delivered to Ukraine will be equipped with new systems (…) This transformation operation will take place at the Cazaux base in Gironde. The goal is to equip them with air-to-ground combat capabilities and enhance their electronic warfare systems.”
Although the total number of aircraft to be delivered has not been disclosed for security reasons, reports confirm the integration of the mentioned weapon systems, to which precision-guided Hammer bombs and various upgrades in sensors and electronic countermeasures will be added. In this regard, it is worth noting that the French government announced in January the donation of 40 new SCALP-EG missiles and several hundred of the newly mentioned bombs, in addition to British Storm Shadow missiles; essential for carrying out long-range attacks on Russian forces and which can now be deployed from these new aircraft.
Finally, Minister Lecornu highlighted the important role of pilot and engineer training provided by France to the Ukrainian Air Force, which takes place in Nancy. This is significant, as training on French AlphaJet trainers is a prerequisite to operating the Western-donated F-16s currently used by the force, with this process taking place at the Fetesti Air Base in Romania. For now, the first class of 10 Ukrainian pilots trained by France graduated in September after six months of training, during which they logged a total of 80 flight hours.
Images used for illustrative purposes.
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