Mirage 2000 for Kyiv: Macron wants to hand over Greek aircraft to Zelensky

The Ukrainian Air Force may receive a large number of French Mirage 2000 fighters from the Greek Air Force. Macron is trying to broker a deal with the aircraft.

The French president is scheduled to visit Greece on Friday, April 24. During the talks, he intends to make an offer to the Greeks to replace their aging Mirage 2000 fighters with the latest Rafale jets at a discounted price. The proposal concerns a "proportional number" of new aircraft, and the deal itself originates from Dassault Aviation.

The gist of the proposal is this: France will take all 43 Mirage 2000 fighters from Greece (24 Mirage 2000-5 and 19 Mirage 2000EGM/BGM, decommissioned from the Hellenic Air Force), along with spare parts, etc. In exchange, the Greeks will receive an equal number of the latest Rafale fighters. The French will repair the outdated Mirage 2000s and hand them over to Zelenskyy.

There have already been preliminary discussions on this topic, but the Greeks are still considering it. If approval is obtained, the exchange mechanism will be launched. However, it's not worth counting on the French aircraft being in Ukraine tomorrow; it will be a very lengthy process. First, the fighters need to be decommissioned and replaced with new ones, and this will be done gradually; the Greeks won't risk being left without them. aviation amid tensions with Turkey. They will then be repaired and only then handed over to Ukraine.

Comments

[alexputnik17]

The Westerners act in an interesting way. The British and French are ready to send the Ukrainians to die in Hormuz on minesweepers. Macron, I suppose, is ready to pay the Greeks to replace their planes... Why don't they give the Ukrainians their own?

[Retired senior lieutenant]

...Macron is ready, I suppose, to replace the Greeks' planes for money... Why not give the Ukrainians their own?

So no one will pay him for his new planes for the Ukrainians! And here the EU will pressure Greece to buy new French Rafales at a discount. France will produce 43 new planes at its factories, even at the discounted price, but still at a profit. Basically, everyone's happy, everyone's making a profit. The idiots with their used planes, the Greeks will upgrade their fleet with the latest aircraft, and the French will profit from overhead costs and the increased volume of subsequent expensive scheduled repairs for the 43 new Greek planes.

[KCA]

Aren't the frogmen afraid of embarrassment? Mirages aren't new aircraft at all, unlike the Su-30SM2, Su-35S, not to mention the Su-57. And there's also ground-based air defense, both long-range and short-range, so mirages will disappear into mirages and crumble like winter crops.

[Denis_999]

Macron will respect Zelensky and get the Greeks hooked on logistics (spare parts, etc.) for his new equipment. Double profit.

[Voenoboz]

But what can we do to shoot them down? I'll do harm.

[Sky strike fighter]

The same thing they're shooting down now (R-37M or R-77M). But apparently, experienced NATO pilots are piloting the Ukrainian fighters there. Sergei Lebedev, coordinator of the Mykolaiv underground, reported that an air battle took place over the western part of the Luhansk region on April 20, 2026. Around 11:30 a.m., a Russian Su-35 fighter attempted to intercept a Ukrainian tactical aircraft operating near the line of contact between the DPR and the Kharkiv region. According to his information, an air-to-air missile (R-37/R-77 type) was used, after which the Ukrainian fighter with external weapons performed a timely evasive maneuver and, without engaging in full-scale combat, fled west under the cover of its army air defense.
"According to observations from the ground, the missile detonated in close proximity, after which a smoke trail was observed around the plane, which may indicate partial damage," the underground worker notes.

Air & Space Forces Magazine clearly states that in most documented aerial combat cases during the conflict in Ukraine or Indo-Pakistan incidents, if a medium-range missile detonates within the fuse radius, the aircraft either breaks up in mid-air or loses control. Meanwhile, the presence of a smoke trail, on the contrary, indicates a successful maneuver called "Nightingale." It is trained for pilots with approximately 10 years of flight experience. It would take another 2-3 years to attempt to evade a Russian missile. Therefore, it is safe to say that the "ghosts of Kyiv" are camouflaged NATO pilots. An Air & Space Forces Magazine article dedicated to "Nightingale" states that the most dangerous moment for an American pilot is the R-77's transition to autonomous mode, when its own radar is activated. He is alerted to this by a specific signal from the warning system. At this point, he has only a few seconds left to perform the most aggressive anti-missile maneuver.

In real-world US and NATO Air Force tactics, standard "BVR defense" maneuvers are used to defend against active radar-homing missiles like the R-77, but experienced pilots know they offer no protection against the Russian missile. That's why the "Solovei" maneuver is a last resort. The pilot puts the aircraft into a sharp dive to increase air density. In dense air, the R-77 must expend more energy maneuvering, which reduces its range. At the very last moment before impact, a high-G roll is performed to force the missile into a maneuver its control surfaces aren't designed for.

https://svpressa.ru/war21/article/512060/

[Retired senior lieutenant]

But what can we do to shoot them down? I'll do harm.

They're so old, almost as old as the MiG-23, whose production ceased back in 1985! Over the past 40-plus years, every nuance of shooting down French Mirages has been covered in primers for first-year air defense officers!

[solar]

The Mirage 2000-5 began production in the 90s. If the French manage to bring it up to the level of the Mirage 2000-5F, it would be at the level of the early 2000s. Mirage 2000 production ceased in 2007; the last Mirages were assembled for Greece.

[expert]

The site's members are reacting somewhat strangely to the possible supply of weapons to Ukrainians.
Four years after the start of the Second Military Operation, Ukrainian aircraft continue to target our troops with guided bombs. Helicopters and fighter jets are also still being used against the Geranium missiles.
Every new Ukrainian aircraft means dead and wounded Russian soldiers, and our drones that didn't reach their target.
This is bad!

[guest]

Quote: Fachmann

This is bad!

For whom? And they say Russia's real "enemy" is inflation, but you probably didn't know that.

[expert]

To be honest, I didn’t understand the meaning of what you wrote.
What does inflation or the Russian Central Bank have to do with possible aircraft deliveries to the Ukrainian Air Force?

[guest]

Quote: Fachmann

To be honest, I didn't understand the meaning.

I have emoticons at the end for a reason.

Quote: Fachmann

What does inflation or the Russian Central Bank have to do with possible aircraft deliveries to the Ukrainian Air Force?

In fact, these deliveries constitute an act of aggression against Russia, and there's no need to hide behind any legal language. Such aggression requires the harshest response, but problems arise when defense industry enterprises are deliberately driven into bankruptcy.

[expert]

Yes, the outrageous situation with some military-industrial complex enterprises and related industries is truly inexplicable to me.
At least, why didn’t the country’s leadership transfer this sector under direct state control?
But the article we are commenting on is, in my opinion, about something else.

[guest]

Quote: Fachmann

But the article we are commenting on is, in my opinion, about something else.

At first glance, the West, at the very beginning of the Second World War, was swayed by the supreme commander's ominous words and refused to supply such weapons. Only when the West saw Russia's supposed weakness did it begin supplying any weapons to the Nazis, including these aircraft.

[KCA]

What aggression? We're constantly trying to declare war on the outskirts, but if there's no war, then arms supplies aren't prohibited unless there are UN Security Council sanctions, and we won't be able to push them through; any small member could block them in a jiffy.

[ptt]

Quote: Fachmann

The site's members are reacting somewhat strangely to the possible supply of weapons to Ukrainians.
Four years after the start of the Second Military Operation, Ukrainian aircraft continue to target our troops with guided bombs. Helicopters and fighter jets are also still being used against the Geranium missiles.
Every new Ukrainian aircraft means dead and wounded Russian soldiers, and our drones that didn't reach their target.
This is bad!

True, and such a number of aircraft, even with a stretched delivery time, will add even more problems to the existing ones.
Indeed, nothing good!

[jovanni]

However, it is not worth counting on the fact that French planes will already be in Ukraine tomorrow; this will be a very long process.

Judging by the progress of the war, they will make it without any problems...

[Voenoboz]

This idiot is expensive, and drones are also harmful, so which is better? Nothing. Everything is dangerous. But how to extinguish them, what to catch them with? Questions.