France plans to supply Mirage 2000-5 jets to Ukraine and begin training pilots this summer, with the first training completed by the end of the year, French President Emmanuel Macron said, Report informs referring to Defense News.
France is building a coalition with other countries to provide the jets, similar to the coalition by several other European countries to supply Ukraine with F-16 fighters, Macron said in an interview with broadcasters TF1 and France 2. The French president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were in Normandy for D-Day commemorations.
“We’ll be launching a new cooperation program and announcing the transfer of Mirage 2000-5s — French fighter jets that will enable Ukraine to protect its soil and airspace,” Macron said. “From tomorrow, we’re going to launch a pilot training program, followed by the transfer of these aircraft.”
Dassault Aviation produced about 600 Mirage 2000 jets, of which half were exported to eight countries including Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Taiwan. The Mirage 2000-5 is an updated air defense variant with improved radar. It’s compatible with the Mica air-to-air missile as well as the Scalp cruise missiles that France has supplied to Ukraine.
Macron declined to say how many jets France will provide, noting details will follow on June 7 when Zelenskyy is in Paris.
“The key factor is pilot training time, and so we’re going to propose to President Zelenskyy that pilots be trained as early as this summer — it normally takes five to six months — so that by the end of the year they’ll be able to fly these aircraft,” Macron said, adding that the Ukrainian pilots will be trained in France.