Mirage 2000-5F fighters will provide air-to-ground and also anti-drone capabities to the Ukrainian Armed Forces
The Chief of Staff of the French Air and Space Force, General Jérôme Bellanger, confirms anti-drone capabilities of the Mirage 2000-5F fighter planes recently supplied to the Ukrainian Armed Forces by France.
On 6 February the French Minister for the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu announced that the first Mirage 2000-5F fighter planes had arrived in Ukraine. The promise of delivery was announced by Emmanuel Macron in an interview on 6 June 2024 and the training of future Ukrainian pilots has been launched by France. Like the F-16AM Fighting Falcon fighter planes delivered to Ukraine by other countries, the French Mirages are not at all equivalent to the various MiG-29 Fulcrum and Su-27 Fencer fighter planes of the Ukrainian Air Force which are old Soviet-origin aircraft. Hence the importance of training pilots to master and get to know their new mount.
Ukrainian Mirage 2000-5F and their armament
The modification of the Ukrainian Mirages was necessary. The Mirage 2000-5F is designed solely for air-to-air combat missions. But the Ukrainian Armed Forces are in a need of more specific capabilities. The Ukrainian aircraft had been transformed at the Cazaux airbase to give them a ground-strike capability. The lack of photos of these new Ukrainian aircraft means that it is not possible to determine the weapons they might carry. The armament could range from SCALP-EG cruise missiles, smooth-bore bombs to AASM propelled and guided bombs.
The air-to-air combat means are easier determine. More than likely the Ukrainian Mirages are equipped with MICA (Missile d’Interception, de Combat et d’Auto-défense) air-to-air missiles as a basic minimum. This is the standard armament for the Mirage 2000-5F of the French Air and Space Force. Developed and produced by MBDA, the missile exists in two variants: the MICA IR and the MICA EM. The difference between these two variants lies in the missile’s guidance system: the MICA IR is equipped with infrared guidance, detecting the heat emitted by the enemy target, for self-defence (short range) but also for discreet interception at short to long range, while the MICA EM (sometimes called MICA RF) is equipped with radar guidance enabling it to detect the enemy target in all weathers.
On the other hand, the MICA IR and the MICA EM both offer both short-range interception capability (minimum range announced as 0.5 kilometres) and long-range firing capability (maximum range greater than 60 kilometres). Several firing modes exist, with a fire and forget capability. This capability allows, depending on the mode, the missile to be fired without having to manage it once it has been released, as it is completely independent until the target is intercepted. For example, over long distances, a link between the aircraft and the missile (Aircraft-Missile Link, or LAM) allows the aircraft to increase the efficiency of the missile's flight by fine-tuning its trajectory or the position of the target.
This same long-range firing can also be carried out without any LAM, with a missile totally independent of the aircraft. Fire and forget firing is also possible at short range but, during close-range aerial combat, such as for example dogfights, the MICA has a Lock On After Launch (LOAL) function. In general, the missile is fired with the target recorded before firing (LOBL), but at short range and in LOAL, the missile can then head towards a target that was not in the detection field of the sensors.
It should be noted that although the aircraft are in Ukraine, they are not yet operational, as certain tests of the installations, systems, approaches and take-off zone, etc. are required to confirm their use 100%. However, as demonstrated by the F-16AMs, this period will be fairly short and it is highly likely that images of Mirage 2000-5Fs in Ukraine will soon be visible.
It is also important not to confuse the different versions of the Mirage 2000 with the Ukrainian Mirage 2000-5F: the former Mirage 2000C fighter, the Mirage 2000D fighter-bomber, the former Mirage 2000N nuclear-capable fighter-bomber, but also the sub-variants, the Mirage 2000-5 having been designed initially for export. For example, the Greek Mirage 2000-5EG/BG (single/two-seater) were designed from the outset to carry air-to-air as well as surface-to-air munitions (including SCALP-EG), whereas the Mirage 2000-5F, developed solely for France, is limited to carrying air-to-air munitions. The Greek example also raises the question of the possibility of Ukrainian Mirage 2000-5F aircraft carrying SCALP-EGs, as this cruise missile is extremely effective in Ukraine, destroying numerous targets, but can only be fired by the Su-24 Fencer tactical bomber.
Anti-drone capabilities proven
On 9 March 2024, the French Armed Forces General Staff announced that the French forces engaged in Operation Aspides, conducted under the aegis of the European Union, had intercepted four kamikaze drones, loitening ammunition. They were launched from Yemen by the Houthi rebels and were heading for the French multi-mission frigate with reinforced air defence capability FREMM DA Alsace. All had been destroyed in self-defence by the frigate and French fighter planes. The fighters in question were without any doubt the Mirage 2000-5Fs of the 3/11 Corse Fighter Squadron, based in Djibouti.
Almost a year after the events, the Chief of Staff of the Air and Space Force, General Jérôme Bellanger, clarified the role played by the 3/11 Corse Fighter Squadron in a message welcoming the reception of the first Mirage 2000-5Fs by the Ukrainian Air Force: „The Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF) have received the first Mirage 2000-5s donated by France. They will contribute directly to the defence of Ukraine. In the Air dnd Space Force, the Mirage 2000-5 and the Rafale have recently demonstrated their full effectiveness against Shahed-type suicide drones, which Ukrainian pilots will have to fight. I salute our combat crews engaged in operations who have recently destroyed nearly a dozen drones, particularly in the Red Sea. The quality of our weapons systems and the expertise of our crews have once again demonstrated their operational effectiveness,“ he wrote on LinkedIn.
The Mirage 2000-5Fs used by the 3/11 Corse Fighter Squadron are equipped with two 30 mm DEFA 554 cannons and the MICA air-to-air missiles mentioned above. These missiles, which are also carried by the Rafale, were used to shoot down a Shahed drone, as suggested in the video shared by General Bellanger:
