Ukraine will receive French Mirages faster than F-16 — Defense Express
Several more sources are being discussed in France for the supply of these fighters, a Mirage 2000-5 coalition may also be formed
Military expert Oleg Katkov, editor-in-chief of Defense Express, told Espreso that Ukraine can get French Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets several months faster, if compared with American F-16s.
"If the French fulfill their promise, taking into account a delay of three months, because President Macron previously spoke about the provision of French fighters by the end of the year, and now the French Minister of Defense has announced the first quarter of 2025, then it will be faster than with the F-16, if you count from the moment of the firm promises. As for the F-16, the firm promises from Denmark and the Netherlands were in August 2023, and in August 2024, Ukraine publicly received them. And the Mirage 2000-5 were promised in June 2024, and if they will come in March 2025, then it will be several months earlier," Oleg Katkov noted.
According to him, the delivery of the Mirage 2000-5 will be delayed by three months due to their modernization, so that these fighters will be able to engage ground targets and have greater resistance to radio-electronic warfare.
"Ukraine has no choice but to receive aircraft from allies, which are written off in their countries, because the queues for new machines are stretched until the 2030s. Zelensky announced the need for 128 fighters. The hypothetical resource of the F-16 is approximately 70 machines until 2027, and the Mirage 2000-5 – up to 20 machines. There have already been talks that there may be much less. The French publication "La Tribune" wrote that there may be 6 of these fighters.
Allegedly, France wants to keep 20 aircraft out of the total number of 26 it has now. However, a compromise was reached on the transfer of 12 aircraft. But the French specialized press notes that only 20 Mirage 2000-5 are in service, in flight condition", said a military expert.
Also, Katkov claims that several more sources are being discussed in France regarding the supply of the Mirage 2000-5.
A Mirage 2000-5 coalition may also be formed, and Qatar and the UAE may become quite likely suppliers of these aircraft, subject to the purchase of fighters.
The Sonyashnyk Telegram channel associated with the Air Force of Ukraine also reported that the training of Ukrainian pilots on the French Mirage 2000-5 fighters is much faster than the training on the F-16.
In particular, the authors noted that the French did in six months what took 1.5 years in the USA.
A short and effective program was developed for the Ukrainian military, "bureaucracy was reduced" and there were no special requirements for knowledge of the English language.
Background. Earlier, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced that France will deliver the first Mirage 2000 aircraft to Ukraine in early 2025. The planes will be equipped with air-to-ground strike capabilities and electronic warfare protection.
If you have read this article to the end, we hope that means it was useful for you.
We work to ensure that our journalistic and analytical work is of high quality, and we strive to perform it as competently as possible. This also requires financial independence. Support us for only UAH 196 per month.
Become a Mind subscriber for just USD 5 per month and support the development of independent business journalism!
You can unsubscribe at any time in your LIQPAY account or by sending us an email: [email protected]
