France to provide Ukraine with Mirage 2000 fighter jets and train pilots – Macron
More details are expected on June 7 after Macron meets with Zelenskyy
France will provide Ukraine with several Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets and will train Ukrainian pilots, French President Emmanuel Macron announced in Normandy, according to Le Figaro.
"France is helping the Ukrainians to resist, but we don't want an escalation," he said.
According to the French leader, during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on June 7, France will begin a new cooperation with Ukraine, including the supply of fighter jets.
To prepare pilots for the Mirage 2000-5, France will organize six-month training courses starting this summer, Macron said. In addition, Paris will help train a Ukrainian brigade of 4,500 soldiers.
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The Mirage 2000 is a single-engine supersonic aircraft with a distinctive delta wing shape that was the French Air Force's main combat aircraft for 20 years from the mid-1980s. It began to be phased out when the new twin-engine Rafale jets arrived in significant numbers in the early 2000s. The Mirage 2000 is capable of carrying SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles, guided bombs, and can significantly augment Ukraine's fleet of Su-34s and Su-25s, according to several military experts.Read also: Ukraine asks allies to step up training of Ukrainian pilots on F-16s – Politico