French Mirage 2000 fighters against the Russian hordes

F-16s are not the only ones: Ukraine will receive French fighters Mirage by the end of the year. At least that's the claim French President Emmanuel Macron made to Ukrainians. UNIAN describes the characteristics of French aircraft and "can they change the situation on the battlefield".

On Thursday (June 6) evening, French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement about the transfer of Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine came as a bolt from the blue.

"Tomorrow we will launch a new cooperation program and announce the delivery of the Mirage 2000-5 series - French combat aircraft that will allow Ukraine to defend its land and airspace. From tomorrow we will launch a pilot training program and deliver these planes by the end of the year," Macron said.

He did not specify the number of planes, adding that the training program for Ukrainian pilots will begin this summer.

"We need 5-6 months to train them in France, so that they are ready by the end of the year,", the French president pointed out.

"The French F-16", or a good plane for its time

The news caused a storm of emotions among ordinary Ukrainians. Indeed, from a purely psychological point of view, the long-awaited transfer of Western aircraft to Ukraine is an event of great importance, which gives confidence in victory. However, the practical benefits of this are not obvious: at least not if we compare the technical characteristics of the French fighter with those of the Russian aircraft.

Let's take a look at what Mirage is

The Mirage 2000 made its first flight in 1978, i.e. almost half a century ago. The same year the United States enters service with the F-16 Fighting Falcon. A year earlier, in 1977, the Soviet MiG-29 flew for the first time, which is still the backbone of the combat aviation of the Ukrainian Air Force.

Simply put: the Mirage 2000 is one of the earliest (though not the first) fourth-generation fighters. It is difficult to compare it with the 4+ aircraft that appeared at the beginning of the century, since they belong to the same generation only formally. It is worth adding the fact that France never had the resources of the USA and the USSR, so it was difficult for her to compete with the aircraft manufacturers of the most powerful countries in the world.

In general, the Mirage can be described as a compromise between price and combat effectiveness: it is a kind of budget analogue of the American fighters of the 70s of the last century. Like the F-16, the French has one engine, a rather limited range and good maneuverability. In terms of combat effectiveness, the base version is closer to the MiG-29 than to the F-16, although the Soviet aircraft is twin-engined.

The Mirage 2000 is involved in combat operations, although not as actively as the F-15 or F-16. In August 1995, one of these aircraft was reportedly shot down by the Serbs using an Igla MANPAD, and the following year a Greek Mirage 2000 shot down a Turkish F-16 over the Aegean Sea. The Mirage was used in the 1999 Kargil conflict (a border conflict between India and Pakistan), specifically to attack ground targets.

Mirage 2000: radar equipment

It is worth noting that the Mirage 2000 is a whole family of combat machines, which sometimes differ quite significantly from each other. For example, the Mirage 2000D is not so much a fighter as a specialized strike aircraft. In turn, the Mirage 2000-5 (which Ukraine will receive) is a modernized export version developed in the early 1990s, with updated onboard systems.

The Mirage 2000-5 is powered by a Snecma M53 engine and has a top speed of 2,300 km/h. The ceiling of the aircraft is almost 17,000 meters and the range is approximately 1,800 km.

These characteristics alone won't tell you much: the same top speed is practically useless in modern warfare. What is really important about the Mirage 2000-5 is the new Radar Doppler model Y (RDY) radar, which can detect fighter-sized targets at a distance of 120-130 km. According to this indicator, the French aircraft is slightly better than the Russian Su-27SM/SM3, but loses to more modern fighters, especially the Su-35S.

It is known that the radar H035 "Irbis" of the Su-35C is capable of detecting fighter-type targets at a distance of 300 km. Some sources report a range of 400 km, but these are obviously very large targets that can only be detected at "ideal“ conditions.

In addition to the Su-35C, one of the most mass-produced Russian fighters is the Su-30SM. It has radar H0011M "Bars" with much more modest features. According to open sources, Bars can detect a MiG-29 fighter at a distance of about 140 km.

Air-to-air weaponry: what is the Mirage capable of?

Even more important is the issue of armament: here the difference between the Mirage 2000-5 and the new Russian aircraft becomes even greater.

Since the Mirage is a small single-engine aircraft, its payload is relatively "modest" - 6.2-6.3 tons. Although this is significantly more than the MiG-29, it is much smaller than the aforementioned Su-35S and Su-30SM (approximately 8 tons).

But the main advantage of the latter is not in the number of weapons, but in the nomenclature. If we do not take into account short-range missiles, which lost the "evolutionary struggle” and are now practically unused, the main missile of the Mirage 2000-5 is the MICA (Missile d'Interception de Combat et d'Autodéfense), which was adopted in service in the 1990s.< br />
The missile is equipped with a thermal imaging homing head (MICA-IR) and an active radar (MICA EM). The stated maximum range of the missile is 80 km. In fact, it is an analogue of the early versions of the American AIM-120 AMRAAM missile, which appeared in the early 1990s. At the time, MICA would meet all the requirements of the time, but in 2000, its features proved to be insufficient.

The Americans themselves created improved versions based on AMRAAM, in particular AIM-120D with a range of 160-180 km. It is possible that they will be integrated (or have already been integrated) into the F-16s that will be delivered to Ukraine. The AIM-120 missile is not integrated into the Mirage 2000.

As for Russian aircraft, they have long been equipped with air-to-air missiles. long-range missiles that significantly outrange not only the MICA, but even the latest versions of the AMRAAM. We are talking about the R-37M missile, created on the basis of the R-33, with a declared range of 300 km. Although in practice it is probably smaller, this does not negate the threat it poses.

It is known for certain that the P-37M can be used by the Su-35S, Su-30SM2 (improved Su-30SM) and the MiG-31BM interceptor, which means that the total number of carriers of the new missile can be approximately 150- 200 fighters. But even if that figure is lower, the performance of the Mirage 2000 still won't be the same as it was a few decades ago.

"When we are talking about Russian aircraft like the Su-35, which can carry long-range missiles based on the P-33, with a range of 200 kilometers and radars that can see several hundred kilometers, it is risky to use the Mirage 2000 against them. The French aircraft has a locator range of 120 kilometers and a missile range of 80 kilometers. So, in any case, it's not an air combat aircraft. The optimal scheme of its use is missions as a carrier of Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG cruise missiles, as well as destruction of enemy cruise missiles and "Shaheed", Sergei Zgurets, head of the Defense Express information-consulting company, told UNIAN.

The only air-to-air missile that is guaranteed to outperform the Russian models is the MBDA Meteor, which has a direct-flow jet engine that allows it to maintain a high flight speed throughout its trajectory, but on the other hand increases the infrared visibility of the missile attack. Meteor's range is approximately 200 km.

Only the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen, the "pan-European" The Eurofighter Typhoon and the French Dassault Rafale can carry this missile. Of all these aircraft, only the Gripen had a chance of reaching Ukraine, but the Swedes recently made it clear that they would not be supplying the Gripen. At least until the first F-16s are delivered to Ukraine.

The (Im)proper Aircraft: Will the Mirage 2000 Help Ukraine?

But can we really say that the Mirage 2000-5 is "bad" fighter jet? Actually not. It is still a combat capable machine that is significantly better than the MiG-29 which is obsolete in every way.

Moreover, there is an opinion that the characteristics of Russian fighters are overestimated, and therefore the Mirage will be more effective than might be expected.

"The Mirage 2000-5 is equipped with an upgraded radar system that is significantly better than the systems the Russians have.

In reality, there are questions about the tactical and technical characteristics of these aircraft. As we see, Russian planes are being destroyed by Ukrainian air defense forces, so I consider these characteristics of Russian radars to be propaganda," aviation expert and deputy general director of an electronic warfare company Anatoly Khrapchinsky told UNIAN.

...Overall, the Mirage 2000-5 is not a bad option for Ukraine, which may even make its mark in the war. However, from a formal point of view, it has no advantages over Russian aircraft, and in addition, it is significantly inferior to the F-16 in terms of standard armament.

Therefore, delivery of the Mirage will make sense only if there are a significant number of such aircraft. Otherwise, it will only complicate the logistics and maintenance of the Air Force fleet, which will eventually consist of practically unified Soviet and American fighters.

According to open sources, the total number of Dassault Mirage 2000s built is about 600 units: this includes all versions of the aircraft, many of which have long been scrapped. France itself has 27 Mirage 2000-5F aircraft in service from 2024. If all of them are transferred to Ukraine, it will be a significant reinforcement of the Ukrainian Air Force.