France is planning to send fighter jets to Ukraine in the first half of 2025, Paris’ armed forces minister said, shortly after the Netherlands confirmed its first delivery of Western-made jets to the war-torn country.
“Mirage 2000s could be flying in Ukraine in the first half of 2025,” Sébastien Lecornu told French outlet Sud Ouest in an interview published on Monday. In a separate post to X, formerly Twitter, Lecornu referenced the interview, saying the delivery of the jets would be in the first quarter of next year.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced in June that Paris would send an unspecified number of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine, with Ukrainian pilots receiving training in France.
The Mirage 2000-5 is a multirole, single-engine fighter jet developed by French manufacturer Dassault. It is a fourth-generation fighter, as are the U.S.-made F-16s Ukraine is now operating.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed in early August that Kyiv’s air force was using the Western-made aircraft, marking the end of a long and frustrating wait for the first tranche of jets promised to Ukraine.
F-16s are the most significant aid commitment from Kyiv’s Western backers, greenlit by the U.S. in August 2023. The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway and Belgium pledged a total of approximately 80 jets to Ukraine, but the timetables for getting the aircraft to the war-torn country were plagued by delays and uncertainty.
For Ukraine’s tired and battered air force, the jets, even in small numbers, provide a boon against Russia’s superior and larger fleet. But they are not gamechangers in themselves, especially not when Ukraine is operating relatively few aircraft.
Ukraine has lost at least one F-16, which crashed in late August. The pilot, named by Kyiv as Lt. Col. Oleksiy Mes, died while “repelling a massive Russian combined air and missile attack,” Ukraine’s air force said.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said in August that she was “extremely proud” that Denmark’s F-16s “are now working” in Ukraine.
“Now they are flying, and the pilots are doing a good job,” Frederiksen said, adding that “unfortunately we lost one of them” a few days earlier. The Danish defense minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said in mid-September that Copenhagen “will provide the next batch of F-16 fighters in the second half of 2024,”
The Dutch defense minister, Ruben Brekelmans, said on Sunday that the first of the Netherlands’ F-16s had been delivered to Ukraine, adding they were “urgently needed.” Brekelmans did not say how many aircraft were included in this first delivery, but said the rest of the jets — totaling 24 — would “follow in the coming months.”
France’s Mirage 2000-5 aircraft are being altered to tailor them for Ukraine’s requirements, Lecornu said. The jets will be adapted for air-to-ground combat operations, the French minister said, and fitted with enhanced electronic warfare capabilities.
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