France has completed a mid-life update for its air force fleet of Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000D strike aircraft, equipping the type with new air-launched weapons and other system enhancements.
Marked by the 3rd Fighter Wing during a commissioning ceremony at Nancy air base on 9 April, completion of the modernisation activity will enable the single-engined type to remain operationally relevant for several more years.
Fifty of the French air force’s 1990s-era jets have been put through the refurbishment effort – launched in 2016 – bringing them to a Mirage 2000D RMV standard.
“New optimised weapons systems, improved connectivity and intelligence gathering, and a modernised cockpit all combine to make this aircraft a platform resolutely geared toward a rapidly changing environment,” the service says.
Key enhancements include the addition of MBDA’s infrared-guided MICA IR short-range air-to-air missile, in place of the company’s earlier-generation Magic II weapon, and a 30mm cannon. The enhanced variant also can now deploy Paveway-series GBU-48/50 laser-guided bombs.
Cockpit-equipment updates include the integration of new digital displays, along with modernised navigation and attack systems.
Aviation analytics company Cirium records the French Air and Space Force as having 59 Mirage 2000Ds in active use, aged between 23 and 32 years.
