IAF Mirage-2000: All You Need to Know About Dassault-designed Fighter Jet

In the early hours of Tuesday, 12 Indian Air Force Mirage-2000 fighter jets, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under license from Dassault Aviation, the French company who also manufactures the Rafale Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircrafts, entered Pakistani airspace and dropped 1,000-kg laser-guided bombs on Jaish-e-Mohammed terror launch pads across the Line of Control.

While India has many new-age fighter jets like the Sukhoi Su-30MKI and MiG 29, apart from the indigenously developed Tejas LCA in its arsenal, it was again the Mirage-2000 jet, which was used in the Kargil war, that was used for the unprecedented cross-border strike.

So here we bring you all the information about Mirage 2000:

The Dassault Mirage 2000 is a French multirole, single-engine fourth-generation jet fighter manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was designed in the late 1970s as a lightweight fighter to replace the Mirage III for the French Air Force (Armée de l’Air). The Mirage 2000 evolved into a multirole aircraft with several variants developed, with sales to a number of nations. It was later developed into the Mirage 2000N and 2000D strike variants, the improved Mirage 2000-5 and several export variants. Over 600 aircraft were built and it has been in service with nine nations.

The Rajiv Gandhi government signed a deal to buy 49 Mirage 2000 aircraft in 1984 in response to Pakistan’s buy of the F-16 from the United States.The multirole aircraft made by French warplane maker Dassault has been the backbone of the IAF and was used for dropping laser-guided bombs on peaks occupied by Pakistani intruders during the Kargil War in 1999.

In 2004, the IAF bought ten more Mirage 2000s raising a third squadron of the aircraft, all of which are based in its air force base at Gwalior.

The Mirage 2000 was replaced by the Rafale in French air force service. India will, however, continue flying both the Mirage and the Rafale for many years.

In its dual role as a nuclear weapons carrier for India’s Strategic Forces Command, the Mirage 2000can carry a single 20 kiloton nuclear bomb, more powerful than the 15KT bomb was used over Hiroshima.

SIGNIFICANCE:

The Mirage-2000 uses a single shaft engine that is light and simple as compared to other fighter jet engines and is called SNECMA M53. The engine was first tested in 1970 and was not made initially for the Mirage jets. In 1974, Dassault Aviation conducted flight tests of the M53-2 version using its Mirage F1E testbeds. The majority of the Mirage 2000 is powered by the SNECMA M53-P2 engine.

The Mirage is ideally designed to seat a single fighter pilot, but can be made into a twin-seat jet depending on the armed forces’ requirements. It has a length of 14.36 metre and a wingspan of 91.3 metre. The plane weighs 7500 kg (dry) and has a total takeoff weight of 17000 kg. The Mirage 2000 has a maximum speed of Mach 2.2 (2336 kmph) and can travel 1550 km with drop tanks. The flight height is capped at 59000 ft (17km).

Countries using Mirage 2000

Apart from India, Dassault sold the Mirage 2000 to 8 other countries, including the home country of France, Egypt, UAE, Peru, Taiwan, Peru, Greece and Brazil. While Brazil has retired the Mirage 2000, other counties are still using this jet.