The French news outlet Sud-Ouest reportedly stated that the French Mirage 2000-5F fighter jets promised by France
to Ukraine
would be converted to enable them to strike ground targets. Mirage 2000-5Fs were initially designed to launch air-to-air missiles, but the conversion should be easy as this has already been done for

Greek Mirage 2000-5s (which they are now decommissioning)
.

France to configure Mirage 2000-5 to strike ground targets

Damien Brenot, Flight Test Center Director at France’s Directorate General for Defense Procurement was reported as saying, “Part of the Mirage 2000-5F aircraft, which France plans to deliver to Ukraine, will be converted in Cazaux (the airbase of the Main Directorate of Armaments in the southwest of the country). This will allow them to fire at surface targets.”

If true, this would be significant as the

first F-16 Fighting Falcons delivered to Ukraine were seen configured for an air defense role
. Ukraine has already used its F-16s to fight off mass Russian missile and drone attacks on the country (although one F-16 has been lost in mysterious circumstances with mechanical failure, pilot error, and friendly fire being touted as possible causes).

French Air Force Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter jet plane afterburner take-off

Photo: VanderWolf Images l Shutterstock

French President Marcon announced in June that France will be donating an unspecified number of Mirage 2000-5s to Ukraine, with the first arriving by the end of 2024. There is also

speculation that retired Greek Mirage 2000-5s and older F-16s
could find their ways to Ukraine.

Argentina has previously announced it will send five retired Dassault Super-Étendards to France
to be restored and sent to Ukraine.

More speculation of Swedish Gripens

The speculation that Sweden will send Saap Gripens to Ukraine also rose recently. Sweden has just announced another large military aid package for Ukraine, but curiously, half of it is financing for the Swedish Air Force to purchase new parts for the 60 new Gripen Es the Swedish Air Force is expected to procure.

Czech Air Force Saab Jas 39C Gripen operating

Photo: PetrCh l Shutterstock

This will mean that the older Swedish Gripen C/D variants will not need to be cannibalized for parts for the new jets (which had been previously planned between 2025 and 2030). That means that at least a portion of the 60 older Swedish Gripens will be flight-worthy and available to be donated to Ukraine at some point. Ukrainian pilots are known to have been training on Gripens.

At this point, it seems likely that between 15 and 30 Gripen C/Ds will eventually be sent to Ukraine. There had been plans to send them sooner, but Sweden said it would hold off and allow Ukraine time to bring the F-16s into service so as not to overload Ukraine’s logistics.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *