Ukraine receives the first French Mirage-2000 fighter jets

The French Defence Minister has confirmed on Thursday that Ukraine has received the first French Mirage-2000 fighter jets.

Ukrainian pilots have undergone “months of training in France” and will now take to the skies over Ukraine for combat missions against Russia.

Sebastian Lecornu wrote on X on Thursday, “On June 6, 2024, Emmanuel Macron announced the delivery of French Mirage 2000 to Ukraine.

“The first of them arrived in Ukraine today. With Ukrainian pilots on board, who have undergone months of training in France, they will now participate in the defense of the Ukrainian skies.”

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Last month the French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed that Kyiv are set to receive the Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets in the first quarter of this year.

On 28 January Barrot said on Sud Radio, “French Mirages will be flying over Ukraine soon. At the end of the quarter, as announced by [French President Emmanuel Macron].”

The fighter jets will be equipped with ground strike capabilities to fire SCALP/Storm Shadow long-range missiles along with the French guided missiles the AASM Hammer, the Kyiv Independent reports.

“The (Mirage 2000)-5 variant has a high-quality radar, in (is) fitted with drop tanks, has a reasonable range, and carries a range of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons,” Peter Layton, a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute and an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), told the Kyiv Independent 2024.