France has announced its intention to transfer Mirage fighters to Ukraine, but according to Business Insider, these aircraft are not the best option for the Ukrainian armed forces. In this article, we will look at why the Mirage fighters may be less effective in the current conflict, and what alternatives could better meet Ukraine's needs.
“The Mirage 2000-5, like its F-16 counterpart, is a good fourth-generation fighter that will bring some additional capabilities to Ukraine’s fleet of outdated Soviet-era combat aircraft. But neither of these aircraft is the best option for Kyiv given the current combat conditions,” the article says.
Justin Bronk, an aviation and technology expert at the Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank, believes that the Mirage 2000-5's effectiveness is primarily limited by the MICA air-to-air missile, which has a significantly shorter range than the AIM-120 AMRAAM variants that Kyiv could use with the F-16, Bronk said. Ukrainian fighters are also forced to fly at relatively low altitudes due to powerful Russian strike systems, which limits the effectiveness of their missiles.
