France gives Ukraine Mirage fighters
reported by Mehr News Agency quoted by Rashatoudi, the French Minister of Armed Forces Sebastien Le Courneau announced the supply of several “Mirage” fighter jets to Ukraine and said that Kiev will probably be able to use them in the first half of next year.
Locurno also said that the training of Ukrainian pilots, which is being carried out at the French Air Force base in Nancy, is a limiting factor in the transfer of fighters to Ukraine.
French media reported in March that Paris is secretly training Ukrainian military personnel as part of a program to grant Dassault Aviation Mirage fighters.
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed this agreement in June and announced that an (unspecified) number of relatively new fighter jets of the Mirage 5-2000 generation will be supplied to Ukraine.
Media reports indicate that about 12 fighter planes will be sent to Ukraine. The French Air Force has about 100 Mirage 2000 aircraft and the Navy has 40 aircraft.
Locorno said about this: The goal is to equip these fighters with air-to-ground combat capabilities and strengthen their electronic warfare systems.
The French Mirage 2000 fighters are compatible with the Storm Shadow or Scallop cruise missiles provided by the UK to Ukraine. Kiev has previously asked its Western backers to issue permission to use these long-range missiles against targets deep inside Russian territory. Moscow has warned that any attack of this nature will be considered a direct NATO intervention in the war.
