Ukraine has received Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets from France – but how will they impact the war? These aircraft bring new air-to-air and air-to-ground capabilities, forcing Russia to rethink its strategy. While Mirage 2000-5 is not the newest fighter, it offers advanced radar, modern avionics, and upgraded weapons that make it a valuable asset for Ukraine’s Air Force.
In this video, we cover:
- How Mirage 2000-5 compares to Ukraine’s F-16s & Russia’s Su-35
- The aircraft’s electronic warfare and missile defense systems
- How Mirage 2000-5 improves Ukraine’s air-to-ground strike abilities
- Challenges against Russian S-400 air defenses & Su-57 stealth jets
- What Mirage 2000-5 means for Ukraine’s Air Force moving forward
The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine, delta wing, fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air Force (Armée de l’air).
The Mirage 2000 evolved into a multirole aircraft with several variants developed, with sales to a number of nations. It was later developed into the Mirage 2000N and 2000D strike variants, the improved Mirage 2000-5, and several export variants. Over 600 aircraft were built and it has been in service with nine nations.
Development – Previous projects
The origins of the Mirage 2000 could be traced back to 1965, when France and Britain agreed to develop the “Anglo-French Variable Geometry” (AFVG) swing-wing aircraft. Two years later, France withdrew from the project on grounds of costs, after which Britain would collaborate with West Germany and Italy to ultimately produce the Panavia Tornado.
Dassault instead focused on its own variable-geometry aircraft, the Dassault Mirage G experimental prototype. The design was expected to materialise in the Mirage G8, which would serve as the replacement for the popular Mirage III in French Air Force service.
The Mirage 2000 started out as a secondary project tentatively named “Delta 1000” in 1972. Dassault was devoting considerable attention to the Mirage G8A, a fixed-geometry derivative of the Mirage G8 that served as the competitor to the Panavia Tornado. The Mirage G8, which was envisioned as the “Avion de Combat Futur” (ACF or Future Combat Aircraft) of the French Air Force (Armee de l’Air, AdA), did not align with the service’s conception of its future aircraft. The AdA wanted a Mach 3 fighter, not an interdictor aircraft incapable of dogfighting that was the Mirage G8.
As such, Dassault redesigned the Mirage G8 into the two-engine Super Mirage G8A that would prove to be ambitious and expensive, being two and a half times the price of the Mirage F1 and over-engineered, especially compared to the General Dynamics F-16 that had just won orders from a number of European countries. Consequently, during a meeting of the National Defence Council on 18 December 1975, the Super Mirage was cancelled.
The ACF was a strike aircraft first and an interceptor second, while the Delta 2000 was the reverse, but the single-engine Delta 2000 was much more affordable. At the same National Defence Council meeting, a redesignated Mirage 2000 was offered to the AdA, and three prototypes were ordered. The AdA in March 1976 issued a set of official requirements whose parameters matched those of Dassault’s performance estimates of the new fighter.
The aircraft’s primary role was interception with a secondary ground-attack capability; the AdA had a commitment for 200 aircraft. The first aircraft was to be delivered in 1982. This was a return to the first-generation Mirages, but with several important innovations that tried to solve their shortcomings.
Photo: A French Air Force Mirage 2000C drops away from a United States Air Force KC-135R Stratotanker (not shown) after refueling during a Combat Patrol mission while participating in NATO Operation Allied Force. The KC-135R is based at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England but is being flown by a crew deployed from the 384th Air Refueling Squadron, McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas. Tankers from RAF Mildenhall make-up a large portion of the tanker forces supporting NATO aircraft during NATO Operation Allied Force. –
Sources: Wikipedia; YouTube