La Tribune: Ukraine to receive first three Mirage jet fighters in early 2025

23 October, 2024 Mirage 2000-5F fighter. Photo credits: French Air and Space Force Three aircraft will comprise the first batch of Mirage 2000-5F jet fighters to be delivered to Ukraine by France in the first quarter of 2025.

The French publication La Tribune reported on this. Jet fighters of this modification are currently undergoing modernization to enable the use of weapons against ground targets. According to the media, the Mirage 2000-5F, which will be delivered to the Ukrainian Air Force, will be able to use French-British SCALP EG/Storm Shadow cruise missiles and French AASM guided bombs, which Ukrainian pilots already have experience in using.

Earlier in October, Avionslegendaires.net reported that France would provide Ukraine with twelve to twenty Mirage 2000-5F jet fighters as part of military aid.

Mirage 2000-5F fighter. Photo credits: French Ministry of Armed Forces

Training of the Ukrainian pilots and ground specialists to maintain these French fighters is currently underway. Currently, the French Air and Space Force has 26 such jet fighters in service.

The Mirage 2000-5F was designed and used only as a jet fighter and did not provide for the use of air defense against ground targets. However, based on Ukraine's urgent need for multifunctional fighter jets, France decided to modify some of the fighters it had committed to supplying to Ukraine to use air-to-ground weapons.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Emmanuel Macron. Photo credits: Office of the President

At the beginning of June of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that Ukraine would receive Mirage 2000-5F fighter jets as part of military aid.

At the same time, he said that France would organize six-month training courses for Ukrainian pilots and ground personnel to prepare them to fly these fighters.

For more details about the French aircraft, read the article on Militarnyi.