By Pierre Tran

Paris – The Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet may be “an old bird,” but there was a large supply of spare parts, which will be a “big advantage” for the Ukrainian air force, a French ex-fighter pilot said.

It was not clear how many of the French-built fighters Paris will send to Kyiv, but there should be no concern over logistical support, the French officer said, when asked about how Ukraine could maintain a Mirage fleet.

President Emmanuel Macron made a surprise June 6 announcement France would send, with coalition nations, the Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000-5, to back Ukraine’s bid to recover land seized by Russia since an assault in February 2022.

Meanwhile, the Mirage 2000-5 fighter armed with the MBDA Mica air-to-air missile will be highly effective, pushing back the strike capability of Russian fighter-bombers by some 100 km, a second French former fighter pilot said.

The Ukrainian air force will need to service the Mirage and Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters due to be shipped from a coalition of Nato allies, as well as maintain an aging fleet of Sukhoi and Mig fighters dating back to the Soviet era.

On French support, there was an ample pool of spares, as the French air force has been flying the Mirage since the 1980s and 1990s, the first officer said.

Sweden has also offered to send over the Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter to support Ukraine, but Stockholm has put that on hold, to give time for Ukraine to prepare for reception of the F-16.

Ukrainian pilots lacked “operational experience” with the Mirage, the first officer said, and there was need for them to gain some 300-400 flight hours in training. That experience could be acquired by flying in France, Poland, and other Nato states.

There will be need for “war time training,” otherwise the pilots will not get past their first mission, the officer said. The pilots will need intense training, flying three times a day.

Some four years was needed to train a fighter pilot, the French air force website said, but the first officer said that was training in “peace time.”

Instructors at Cazau air base, southwest France, were training Ukrainian pilots on the Alpha Jet training aircraft, the French armed forces have said, showing pictures on a social media platform. The pictures include soldiers firing the Caesar artillery pieces.

Those Cazau instructors were some of the best pilots, the officer said, and were “motivated to support those guys.”

The Ukrainian pilots were young and would learn quickly, the officer said. That training would include how to deal with the Sukhoi Su 34 Fullback fighter-bomber, which flies with guided bombs equipped with Glonass, the Russian equivalent of GPS.

The air defense mission was critical, the officer said, with Russian pilots dropping 50-60 tons of bombs daily on Kharkiv, the second Ukrainian city, near the northern border.

The Ukrainian air force needed fighters to intercept those fighter-bombers, which had a strike range of some 60-70 km, flying in Russian airspace behind the front line.

Game Changer

The Mirage-Mica package was a “game change,” the second ex-fighter pilot said. The air defense mission meant the French-built fighter could not only protect the skies over Ukraine, but also drive back the Russian air-to-ground strike.

An aerial combat capability of the Mirage-Mica gave tactical advantage over Russian pilots, the second officer said, pointing to a data link connecting the fighter with the missile.

That data link meant the Mirage could fire the Mica, with the fighter using its onboard radar to guide the missile to the Russian fighter, and at the last minute switching on the missile’s two guidance systems – a target-seeking radar and infra-red sensor – to light up and lock on to the enemy aircraft.

The small size of the missile made it hard to detect in flight, and a delayed switching on of its own seekers – which allowed it to be detected by the enemy – gave little time for evasion, the officer said. The Mirage could use the data link to switch targets when the weapon was in flight, bringing further confusion to the enemy.

That French-built weapon meant Ukraine will be gaining the beyond visual range capability for the first time, a missile specialist said. It was not clear what U.S. missile would be supplied with the F-16.

“Mica outperforms other BVR (beyond visual range) missiles with its unique stealthy interception capability provided by its silent seeker,” MBDA said on its website.

The Mica range was reported to be some 80 km, but the tactical advantage with the Mirage meant the Russian fighters would withdraw further back within Russia, the officer said, to avoid air combat and loss of the pilot and aircraft.

The Mirage may be aging, the officer said, but the stealthy characteristics of the Mica meant the fighter was seen with quite some respect.

The French air “doctrine,” the officer said, was also to fly as a coordinated team of two to four fighters, bringing complexity to the concept of operations. That would make it tough for Russian pilots, who flew mainly as individual fighters.

The Russian air force outnumbered the Ukrainian fleet perhaps five to one, the officer said, but the tactical advantage of Mirage-Mica could help even the odds.

But training the Ukrainian pilots would take at least 18 months, maybe two years, the officer said, and require many instructors.

The Mirage 2000 made its maiden flight in 1978 and entered service with the French air force in 1984 in the air defense version, Dassault said on its website.

France has sent to Ukraine the Scalp cruise missile and Safran AASM Hammer, a powered smart bomb. These weapons have been adapted to Ukrainian fighters, and could be fitted to the Mirage, giving it air-to-ground strike capability.

Greece flies its Mirage 2000-5 with the Scalp cruise missile.

The importance of air superiority could be seen in the words of the late British field marshal Bernard Montgomery, the first officer said:  “If we lose the war in the air we lose the war and we lose it quickly.”

By Pierre Tran

Paris – A surprise announcement from president Emmanuel Macron of the sale of the Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet to Ukraine has sparked political controversy and public debate over the arms deal.

The head of state said June 6 on live national television France would enter a “program of sale” of the single-engine fighter when his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited the French capital the next day.

French training of Ukrainian pilots would start in the next few days, and take five or six months, he said.

Macron was speaking on the sidelines of an international commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the allied assault on five Normandy beaches on D-Day June 6, 1944.

The French commander in chief, speaking the following day, withheld the number of Mirage 2000-5s to be sent to Ukraine, and the allied nations which would take part in a coalition dispatch of the French-built fighter.

“I will give you neither the name of the partners, nor the definitive number,” he said. “It is more effective and gives less visibility to the adversary.”

France would also train a brigade of Ukrainian troops, he said.

That called for training some 4,500 soldiers, and equipping them with French kit, a military engagement which certainly raised eyebrows and political opposition.

News of the Mirage for Ukraine drew dissent from Marine Le Pen, leader of the National Rally (RN), the rebranded far-right political party formerly known as National Front (FN).

Macron showed “hunger for war,” she said June 7, accusing the French president of increasing pressure, which could lead to “escalation” in the war between Ukraine and Russia.

Snap General Election

Macron again went on television two days later, formally calling for a surprise general election for the French parliament, and dissolution of the lower house National Assembly.

That was Macron’s response to Le Pen’s RN party comfortably leading that day’s election for the European Parliament, the elected arm of the European Union.

While opinion polls had predicted a comfortable lead for the RN in the European Parliament, Macron’s call for a French snap general election came as a political shock.

The first round of votes are due be held on June 30, followed by the second round on July 7, leading to appointment of a new prime minister. Macron will stay on as president.

Macron intended to rally opposition to the far right, and bolster the mainstream political parties, analysts said. But there was high risk the RN could win, perhaps appointing its party president, Jordan Bardella, 28, as prime minister, or holding a key coalition role.

“Yesterday’s (European Parliament) results lead to a political earthquake in France, not so much due to Le Pen’s National Rally’s (RN) spectacular win, which had long been foretold by pollsters, but because of President Macron’s subsequent call for snap elections,” said Célia Belin, head of the Paris office of the European Centre for Foreign Relations, a think tank.

“If the RN were to gain majority or to form a governing coalition, France enters unchartered territories,” she said. “RN’s plans for Europe remain unsophisticated, unpolished and at times contradictory. France’s voice would probably get eclipsed for a while.”

If Le Pen’s party won the Matignon prime minister’s office, it was unlikely she would block the Mirage fighters to Ukraine, said Jean-Pierre Maulny deputy director of Institut des Relations Internationales et Stratégiques, a think tank.

“Macron is the president,” he said, and defense falls under the purview of the presidency.

Le Pen’s priority was to cut immigration, seen as a social issue, rather than military policy, which is a matter for the Elysées president’s office.

“This is below the radar” for her, he said.

A Mirage sale might be delayed if the RN came to power, he said, but the chances the deal would go ahead could be 55-45.

The RN party repaid a controversial loan held by a Russian company, Aviazapchast, daily Le Figaro reported last September.

That repayment stemmed from the €9 million RN borrowed from a Czech-Russian bank in 2014, to pay for Le Pen’s campaign for the French presidency in 2017. French banks had stayed clear of the RN, leading the party to borrow from the First Czech Russian Bank, she said. That Czech-Russian bank later folded.

The French stock market closed down 1.35 pct, with the CAC-40 share index trimming an opening 2 pct drop on Monday, the day after Macron’s call for general election. The euro fell 0.5 pct against the dollar and 0.55 pct against the pound, while the price of French 10-year government bonds also fell sharply.
T

he RN party won 31.4 percent of French votes in the European parliamentary election, beating Macron’s Renaissance party, which received some 14.6 percent, and the Socialists some 14 percent.

Mirage Flip

Meanwhile, Macron’s surprise Mirage-for-Ukraine announcement drew sharp criticism from specialist reporters who said on public social media and private messaging the French air force had said for months Ukrainian officers did not want the fighter, and there were too few units and logistical constraints.

“Now they will have to convince us the opposite,” a specialist reporter said on social media.

There was certainly official concern on the scarcity of Mirages in the French air force.

“We have few Mirage 2000s and service support would be highly challenging,” the armed forces minister, Sébastien Lecornu, told the National Assembly in February, when asked about sending the fighter to Kyiv.

There is a view the French air force could part with six of its total fleet of 26 Mirage 2000-5s, leaving the service with a full squadron of 20 fighters. The service’s Cigogne fighter squadron would be severely depleted if more than six Mirages were sent to Kyiv, media reports said.

Ukraine, however, would need a larger Mirage squadron, to justify the logistical support, analysts said. The Ukrainian air force is getting ready to receive the Lockheed Martin F-16, and already services Mig and Sukhoi fighters, which date back to the Soviet era. Ground crews will need to be trained for distinct service of those fighters and the spares.

France flies its Mirage 2000-5 for air combat with the Mica missile, but the fighter can be adapted for ground attack.

The allied nations flying versions – and potential coalition donors – of the Mirage 2000-5 include Greece, India, and Qatar, while the United Arab Emirates operates the more advanced Mirage 2000-9.

The Ukrainian leader stopped over at Qatar June 5, on his way to France, business website La Tribune reported, and it would have been surprising if he had not discussed the Mirage with his counterpart, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani. Doha is keen to find a buyer for the 12 Mirage 2000-5 flown by the Qatari air force, the media report said.

Greece flies its Mirage 2000-5 armed with the Scalp cruise missile for hitting ground targets. Paris and London have supplied Kyiv with Scalp and its British version, Storm Shadow. The Ukrainian Mig and Sukhoi fighters have been adapted to fire those long-range weapons.

Meanwhile, France was seen as needing to replace the Mirage 2000-5 sent to Ukraine with the Rafale, which would carry a hefty price tag. The Mirage 2000-5 was due to stay in service to 2030 with the French air force.

France flies 26 Mirage 2000-5s, operating from Luxeuil airbase, eastern France, and the Djibouti airbase, the French service said. They fly missions of air police and air defence, and have deployed several times over the Baltic nations – Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania – in the Nato enhanced air policing mission.

The Mirages operating from Djibouti shot down kamikaze drones flown out of Yemen by Houthi rebels, seeking to hit commercial shipping in the Red Sea.
France also flies a 48-strong fleet of Mirage 2000D fighters, with a midlife upgrade.

The Mirage 2000-5 flew in the allied Hamilton mission against Syria in 2017. Those fighters were reported to have flown from Luxeuil, as escort for the five Rafale fighters carrying Scalp missiles, two AWACS spy planes, and six C-135 air tankers for inflight refuelling.

“I’m sure that a day will come when Ukraine will see the same jets in our skies that we saw in Normandy skies yesterday,” Zelenskiy told French lawmakers June 7, referring to the  international commemoration of the D-Day landing on the Normandy beaches – Gold, Juno, Omaha, Sword, and Utah.

Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Norway have pledged to send F-16s to Ukraine, in response to the Ukraine’s request for 120-130 Western fighters to counter the Russian assault.  Washington has authorized the transfer.

Featured Photo:Mirage 2000-5 jet fighter cockpit close-up. Republic of China mirage 2000-5 jet fighter.Photo taken on:July 19th, 2014 in Taichung,Taiwan.