Ukraine to receive up to 20 Mirage 2000-5F fighters

France will provide Ukraine with up to 20 Mirage 2000-5F fighter jets as part of military assistance.

Avionslegendaires.net reports about this.

Currently, French aircraft of this modification are being modernized for the use of air-to-ground weapons.

The exact number of aircraft to be delivered is kept secret. However, according to various sources on the website, France will provide Ukraine with twelve to twenty Mirage 2000-5F fighters.

The warplanes will be delivered in the first quarter of 2025, according to French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu.

Before delivery, the Mirage 2000-5Fs will be upgraded to operate air-to-ground weapons. Thus, they will become the multi-role combat aircraft, which are now very much needed by the Ukrainian Air Force.

Training of the Ukrainian pilots and ground specialists to maintain these French fighters is currently underway.

It is worth reminding that the Mirage 2000-5F was designed and used only as a fighter and did not provide for the use of air defense systems against the ground targets.

However, based on Ukraine’s urgent need for multifunctional combat aircraft, France decided to modify some of the fighters it had committed to supply to Ukraine.

In early June of this year, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Ukraine would receive Mirage 2000-5F fighters. At the same time, he said that France would organize six-month training courses for the Ukrainian pilots to prepare them to fly these fighters.

It is not yet known what weapons the modified aircraft will be able to use to strike the ground targets.

The first contender for this role is the French AASM precision weapon, which the Ukrainian pilots have already experienced in using. French specialized media also suggest that the Ukrainian Mirage 2000-5F will be adapted to use the French-British SCALP EG/Storm Shadow cruise missiles. Read more about the French aircraft in the article on Militarnyi.