After President of France Emmanuel Macron officially announced the strengthening of Ukraine with Mirage 2000-5 fighters, it may be quite logical to question whether these aircraft can be modernized. After all, we are talking about machines not modernized since the 1990s, so it is necessary to understand the capabilities and limitations of these French fighters without exaggeration.
And of course, the Mirage 2000-5 is not the pinnacle of this aircraft's evolution, as ultimately, we are talking about a quite popular fighter jet worldwide, which, considering the Mirage 2000 series overall, is in service with 8 countries.
Read more: Mirage 2000-5: What the French Fighter Can and Cannot Do, A Sober Glance Without Exaggeration
Specifically, the next version of the aircraft is the Mirage 2000-5 Mk2, which Greece ordered in 2000 to update the machines. The main difference of this version lies in the following update of the onboard radar - RDY-2.
There is a version of the Mirage 2000-9, which the UAE ordered as early as 1998. It is considered fair to say that, despite the different name, we are talking about almost the same version of modernization.
There is also an Indian sub-variant of the Mirage 2000-5 Mk2, which received separate designations Mirage 2000I for single-seat and Mirage 2000TI for two-seat aircraft, to which the Mirage 2000H and 2000TH aircraft, delivered in the 1980s, were modernized.
The Mirage 2000-5 in its initial version has much room for improvement. However, to say that it could undergo a global upgrade is not accurate. Furthermore, unlike the F-16, which continues to undergo continuous updates through standardized Blocks, the Mirage 2000 was modernized individually for each customer.
So, for example, if there is a desire to replace the onboard radar of French Mirage 2000-5 from RDY-1 to RDY-2, then such a possibility is unlikely to exist because it is doubtful that Thales currently manufactures them. Therefore, it would involve the development and manufacture of a new version of this radar individually.
The same applies to the electronic warfare suite and all other elements of the aircraft. However, any underwing pods, including the Damocles targeting pod, are unlikely to require extensive integration work.
But overall, the discussion will focus on the corresponding cost of the work, which has become a hurdle in modernization. For instance, Taiwan decided not to upgrade its aircraft. Most likely, aside from Ukraine, only India will see out its aviation age with the Mirage 2000-5.
Currently, there is a process of reducing operators and phasing out aircraft of this type altogether. This decision is being implemented by France itself. Greece has already announced plans to sell theirs. Qatar almost finalized a sale to Indonesia in 2023, but the deal was canceled in February 2024. Peru intended to retire them by 2025. The UAE has already initiated the process of replacing the Mirage 2000 with the Rafale F4 under a record contract.
Read more: France Will Give Ukraine the Mirage 2000 Fighters and Training
