New predator appears in Ukrainian skies: French machine specializes in one thing – World – News

French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France will provide Ukraine with its remaining Mirage fighter jets to better defend against Russian aggression, noting that a “new cooperation with Ukraine” was beginning.

“The moment of peace will come only if Ukraine resists,” Macron said as he marked the symbolic day in Ukraine. 80th Anniversary of the Allied D-Day LandingsDuring World War II, this aided greatly not only in the liberation of France, but also in the defeat of Nazi Germany.

The French president reiterated that Ukraine should be able to use weapons provided by the West to attack Russian military targets and “neutralize where the country is attacked.”

The magazine explained that the French president specified that Ukraine would receive the Mirage 2000-5 multirole fighter, which is optimized for air-to-air combat, rather than the older Mirage 2000C or Mirage 2000D air-to-ground attack aircraft. Forbes.

All variants have the same basic shape and performance: tailless delta wing, single engine, front-mounted multi-mode radar and supersonic speed, Forbes wrote, adding that the choice of variants makes sense. The French Air Force retired the last Mirage 2000C from the 1980s in 2022. They plan to maintain the new version of the Mirage 2000-5 built for the French Air Force in the 1990s until 2029. Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that the new generation of Dassault Rafale fighters will replace them, or even sooner.

Photo: French Ministry of Defense

Mirage 2000-5, French fighter French Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet.

It is not clear how many machines Ukraine will receive. France could equip the Ukrainian Air Force with dozens of Mirage 2000-5s, enough to replace an existing Ukrainian fighter brigade or create a new one. In addition, Macron said France has pledged to provide pilot training.

Pilots will begin training in the summer. “Normally it takes five to six months,” Macron said, according to French television. “So by the end of the year, the pilots will be trained and they will be trained in France.”France 24.

Photo: French Ministry of Defense

French Mirage 2000-5 fighter French Mirage 2000-5 fighter jet.

Focus on one thing

But what can these machines do? The advantages of this type are well known. “The Mirage 2000-5 is a fairly old aircraft, but it is also very professional,” French Air Force Colonel Anne Labadie told Fighter Aircraft Magazine. “It is an aircraft designed specifically for air defense, and its pilots specialize in air defense.”

If Ukraine now has access to the Mirages, it’s clear how Ukraine’s defenders will use them – they’ll take off to fight Sukhoi fighter-bombers from the Russian Air Force, which routinely and relentlessly bomb Ukrainian troops and civilians with precision glide bombs, writes Forbes magazine.

The 5F is the latest evolution of the single-seat Mirage 2000, since which only the current Mirage 2000D MLU has appeared. The new radar is one of the main features of the Mirage 2000-5F, meaning it is the first machine of the French Air Force capable of using infrared-guided MICA EM missiles.

Will Ukrainians defend their skies?

READ ALSO “This is our country and our sky.” Ukrainians destroyed six Russian modern aircraft in three days

The Ukrainian Air Force entered the war in February 2022 with about 125 fighter jets, including Sukhoi Su-24 and Sukhoi Su-25 attack aircraft and Sukhoi Su-27 and MiG-29 fighters.

Ukraine lost about 80 aircraft during 28 months of hard fighting, but most of them were replaced with fighters donated by Slovakia and Poland. They also refurbished several older aircraft that were taken out of storage and made combat-ready.

The most important reinforcements are on the way. Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway have pledged 85 F-16 fighters, the first of which will arrive in a few weeks, around the same time that the first Ukrainian pilots complete their training in the United States, Denmark and Romania.

Not long ago, Sweden armed Ukraine with Saab ASC-890 aircraft, which are equipped with radars that can provide timely early warning of attacks by aggressors. Reconnaissance aircraft with flight radar capabilities fly at high altitudes. Compared with ground radars, which are limited by the horizon, it can monitor the airspace to a greater extent. The Ukrainian army now uses them.