The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set to buy a fleet of 24 Mirage 2000 fighter jets from the French aircraft manufacturing company Dassault Aviation with a contract worth $27 million, Hindustan Times reported.
Out of the 24 jets, 13 are in proper condition with 8 of them ready to fly after servicing. The remaining 11 aircraft are partially complete but with fuel tanks and ejection seats, which will be scavenged to secure parts for IAF’s two existing squadrons of the fighter.
With the ageing fleets of the Mirage 2000 fourth-generation fighters, the IAF is looking to bolster its existing squadrons of the aircraft while also securing their parts. The per aircraft cost will come down to $1.125 million.
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The Mirage, first commissioned in India in 1985 has been one of the most versatile aircraft ever since, displaying its importance as recently as the 2019 Balakot strike. The Mirage-2000 also played a decisive role in the 1999 war of Kargil and turned it in India’s favour.
Now, the aircraft is going under a mid-life upgrade after a trigger for the acquisition of 300 second-hand spare Mirages came by. The aircraft is becoming obsolete in France and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhaduaria decided to go in for the purchase, Hindustan Times quoted its sources.
Until the Narendra Modi government took the decision of acquiring the 4.5 generation Rafale fighters (also from Dassault), the Mirage 2000 was India’s front-line fighter, a position it has held since the Kargil war.
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The Mirage 2000 is powered by a single shaft engine called SNECMA M53, making it light and simple. The plane weighs 7,500 kg (dry) and has a total takeoff weight of 17,000 kg. The fighter jet can attain a maximum speed of Mach 2.2 (2,336 kmph) and can travel 1,550 km with drop tanks. It can touch a maximum height of 59000 feet.
