France plans to deliver French-made Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine by the first half of 2025, Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu said in a post on X on October 8, 2024.
On June 6, 2024, French President Emmanuel Macron stated that France would send Mirage-2000 jets to Ukraine and provide training for Ukrainian pilots as part of a new military cooperation program with Kyiv.
The French are improving their fighters to make them more suitable for the war in Ukraine, Lecornu added. The Mirage 2000-5 was initially designed for air-to-air fighting. However, the minister added that the fighter aircraft will receive new equipment at Cazaux in Gironde.
“It is a question of equipping them with air-to-ground combat capabilities. And to strengthen their electronic warfare system,” Lecornu said in an interview with Sud Ouest, published late on October 7, 2024.
One of the main modifications will likely include the capability for the single-seat fighter to launch SCALP-EG/Storm Shadow cruise missiles. These missiles have been supplied to Ukraine by both France and the United Kingdom. Although these missiles are typically deployed from a twin-seat version of the aircraft, the single-seat Mirage 2000-9 developed for the United Arab Emirates is capable of using these weapons.
The Mirage 2000 is a French fighter jet with a single engine, made by Dassault Aviation. It can fly nearly 1,000 miles using just its internal fuel. Additionally, it can carry external fuel tanks that increase its combat range significantly.
The Dassault aircraft will be the second western fighter jet used by Ukraine’s military. According to Lecornu, the training of Ukrainian pilots and mechanics is ongoing.
Since early August 2024, Ukrainian pilots have been operating General Dynamics F-16 fighter jets supplied by European nations, including the Netherlands and Denmark.