French Air and Space Force receives its first renovated Mirage 2000D.

The French Ministry of Defense reports that on Thursday January 7, 2021, the first renovated Mirage 2000D (number 639) landed on Air Base 118 in Mont-de-Marsan, after renovation work carried out by Dassault Aviation and coupled with a maintenance visit by the industrial aeronautics workshop (AIA) located in Clermont-Ferrand.

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The mid-life renovation of the Mirage 2000D fleet will provide the fighter jet with improved air-to-ground and air-to-air capabilities, as well as a complementary, tactile and centralized navigation and attack system, which will facilitate dialogue between man and machine (Picture source: Dassault Aviation)

The mid-life renovation of the Mirage 2000D fleet, provided for in the 2019-2025 military programming law (LPM) and placed under the project management of the General Directorate of Armaments (DGA), concerns 55 aircraft. It will provide the Mirage 2000D with improved air-to-ground and air-to-air capabilities, as well as a complementary, tactile and centralized navigation and attack system, which will facilitate dialogue between man and machine.

This new M2000D standard will now, and for almost a year, undergo state tests and experiments before it can be declared operational. This major renovation is being carried out jointly by the DGA and the Military Air Expertise Center (CEAM). Its objective is to authorize the use of the new standard within the forces (such as domain openings or hot weather campaigns) and to allow an optimal operational transition for the squadrons responsible for using it on a daily basis in theaters. external operations as well as on national territory. The ambition is therefore to be able to deploy, in operation, the renovated M2000D in 2022, after a period of appropriation within the units of the 3rd Fighter Squadron.

Renovated Mirage 2000D (Picture source: Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace/Bernard Hennequin)

The Mirage 2000D is a development of the Mirage 2000N designed for long-range precision strikes with conventional weapons. This aircraft is exactly the same as the Mirage 2000N, but introduces support for conventional attack missiles such as the Apache and Scalp missiles, as well as the AASM weapons. The first aircraft, converted from the Mirage 2000N prototype, flew on 19 February 1991, and the French Air Force ordered a total of 86 aircraft. Like the Mirage 2000N, the Mirage 2000D had variants: the Mirage 2000D-R1 does not have the full weapons capability of the Mirage 2000D-R2, which features the Apache and Scalp missiles, the ATLIS II laser designation system, and the Samir self-protection fit.