Will French Mirage bombers boost Ukraine's air defenses?

In June, French President Emmanuel Macron promised that the first Mirage 2000 fighter jets would be delivered to Ukraine before the end of 2024. Now, however, Kyiv will not receive the planes until next year.

On October 8, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu announced that the delivery was being delayed, and that France would send the planes to Ukraine, which is defending itself against Russia's war of aggression, in the first quarter of 2025.

The specialist journal Defense News reported that the French company Dassault Aviation had manufactured around 600 Mirage 2000 bombers, half of which were exported to eight countries, including Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan. The plane is around 14 meters (46 feet) long, with a wingspan of about 9 meters. It has an unladen weight of 7,500 kilograms (16,500 pounds), and a maximum speed of around 2,700 kilometers per hour (1,680 miles per hour).

The Mirage 2000-5 is a modernized version of the fighter jet, equipped with an improved radar and capable of carrying MICA air-to-air missiles. It can also serve as a carrier for SCALP-EG air-launched cruise missiles, which France is also supplying to Ukraine.

Oleh Katkov, the editor-in-chief of the Ukrainian specialist journal Defense Express, believes the French planes could significantly strengthen the Ukrainian air force. "The Mirages' first and most important task will be air defense, especially in countering cruise missile and drone attacks," he told DW.

Modernizing the Mirages

In his post on the social network X (formerly Twitter), the French Defense Minister Lecornu went on to announce that the Mirages to be delivered to Ukraine would first be upgraded to the latest standards.

"In Cazaux, in Gironde, they will be fitted with new equipment: for air and ground combat and defense against electronic warfare," he wrote.

According to Katkov, the French planes will then be able to use long-range weapons, such as the French AASM Hammer missiles with a range of more than 70 kilometers. He added that, as part of the upgrade, it would also make sense to integrate glide bombs into the Mirage 2000-5, such as the American JDAM-ER and SDB, which are already being used by the Ukrainian armed forces, in order to hit targets on the ground close to the front line.

The enhanced electronic warfare equipment mentioned by Lecornu is also important. Katkov said it could make both the Mirage planes' navigation systems and their onboard radar or communication systems more resistant to Russian jamming signals.

The former Soviet Su-24 bombers currently being used by Ukraine's armed forces have been deploying the SCALP and Storm Shadow cruise missiles, developed by France and the UK, for quite some time, and doing so effectively. Consequently, Katkov sees the use of these missiles by the Mirage jets as a secondary consideration.

Difference between Mirage, F-16

Mirage and F-16 fighter jets were developed at around the same time, but they differ significantly in both design and capabilities. According to experts in the field, compared to the American F-16, the Mirage doesn't perform as well in air combat.

"The Mirage 2000-5 does not have long-range air-to-air missiles. The Mirage is suitable for air defense in the hinterland, and for dropping glide bombs," said Katkov. An F-16 can do this too, he explained, but its weaponry means it can also prevent enemy planes from penetrating areas where they too can drop bombs.

An F-16 carries air-to-air missiles with a range of up to 160 kilometers, whereas the missiles on the Mirage 2000-5 have a range of only 60 to 80 kilometers. "The Mirage 2000-5 does not have the appropriate weapons to perform such a task," added Katkov.

Kostiantyn Kryvolap, a former test engineer for the Ukrainian aircraft manufacturer Antonov, also spoke of these shortcomings. In his view, the radar on the French planes leaves much to be desired.

"Even in our [Soviet] MiG-29s, the radar situation is better than in the Mirages," he told the portal RBC-Ukraine. The Mirage is a combat aircraft, but Kryvolap considers it too outdated to be used as such. A Russian fighter jet could easily intercept missiles fired at it by a Mirage, he said.

How many bombers can Ukraine expect to receive?

In July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian army needed at least 128 F-16s to be able to compete with the Russian air force. So far, Kyiv has received only a few F-16s from Denmark and the Netherlands, meaning it's still a very long way from achieving this goal.

Oleh Katkov anticipates that it won't be possible to deliver more than a maximum of 70 aircraft to Ukraine by 2027. "In this situation, you have to ask where you're going to get the required number of fighter jets from," he said.

This is where the French Mirages could in fact be useful. It's still not clear how many Paris intends to supply. According to the French defense news portal Opex360, the French air force has only 20 Mirage 2000-5s that are due to be decommissioned by 2030, which is presumably the maximum number of planes Ukraine can expect from France.

However, the Ukrainian air force doesn't want to rely on F-16s and Mirages alone. At the end of September, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov announced that, in addition to the aircraft already promised to Ukraine by its Western partners, discussions are currently underway about possible deliveries of other types of fighter jets, like the Swedish-made Gripen, and the European Eurofighter Typhoon jets.

This article was originally written in Ukrainian.