French air force M2000 Mirages await a mission for Red Flag-Alaska 07-1 in April at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Jonathan Snyder)
On March 22, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force (UAF) said that a recent report by Le Figaro on the training of Ukrainian pilots in France on Mirage fighter jets is not true.
“Now there is information that our pilots are training for a month and a half in France on Mirage aircraft. I would like to immediately refute so that there are no distortions of various facts,” the spokesman, Yurii Ihnat.
The French daily reported that UAF pilots have been training to operate multipurpose Mirage 2000C fighter jets in France for a month and a half. According to the report, the decision to train the pilots was made on the eve of the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Paris on February 8.
France decommissioned and stored its last 12 Mirage 2000Cs last June. The fighter jets feature an upgraded radar, an identification friend or foe system as well as the ability to carry air-to-ground weapons, including rocket pods and different types of bombs. They can also be armed with Exocet anti-ship missiles.
Ihnat said that various states do offer Ukraine their own sites “for possible, potential and future training of the type that will be chosen collectively in consultation with our Western partners”.
“We have trained air observers in France and taken survival courses for aviators, but we are not talking about training flight crews,” he stressed.
Le Figaro’s report was also denied by General Yann Gravêthe, Ukraine’s Deputy Minister for Defence Information and Communications.
“We do not teach Ukrainian pilots either piloting or the use of weapons systems,” Gravêthe said.
In general, France “provides specialized training to up to 1,200 Ukrainians throughout the year.” In addition, 150 French soldiers will train in Poland up to 600 Ukrainians per month as part of a European mission.
France’s Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, revealed during a hearing in the Senate on February 28, the possibility of transferring Dassault Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine is being considered. However, he noted at the time that Ukrainian pilots would be trained in Poland.
Kiev forces have received much military support from France since the start of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine more than a year ago.
Western efforts to rebuild the UAF gained momentum earlier this month when both Poland and Slovakia announced their decision to transfer Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. The supply of Western-made fighter jets like the Mirage will be more complicated, yet possible. The Ukrainian denial of Le Figaro’s report may be an attempt to keep the deal with France a secret.
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Live in the South West Mediterranean part of France. For the past few nights lots of noise of jets in the early hours….hmmmm. Totally unusual.
Oh really, gypsy? I think you confused jets for nigger and shitskin hysterical screaming, dick wagging in the air and setting your City Hall on fire with Molotov cocktails.
spam. ignore.
US deny it too. We know nothing about it, and if we do it is the frog eaters fault.
Have you ever tried caracoles /escargots very delicious hmm more common dish in Spain than France I think
Peter = spam. ignore.
So difficult to see European values being savaged by the US Pitbull. European politicians are a sad excuse and spineless, utilising Minsk agreement to buy time. The last time meaningful EU negotiation that took place was Carrington cutileiro plan to avoid bloodshed in Bosnia. In stumbled warren Christopher with a better deal. Nothing better, but more bloodshed. De Gaulle would never of allowed such manipulation.
with the major portion of zelensky’s army already gone to hell or POW camps is there any point in training the rest
Macron and his granma wife should be sent to the guillotine
Vor dori oare prin aceste avioane sa livreze vreo nucleara in Donbas?
Your topic’s picture is not a Mirage 2000C, there is a Mirage 2000D. Ukraine don’t need M2000C (Air Defense) but need SU-25 or A-10.
Poofter Macron will need his flying masheens to bomb the peasants in gay Paris in the coming burning of the Bastille part 2. Don’t chuck this crap on the rump Ukrap dumpster fire quite yet, Poofter.
The minister of the army in france is called lecornu LOL!
That means the horned one by the way.
Does that mean he’s a cornuto like Justin Castro’s make believe papa?
Not surprising. A former army minister watched while the entire Nazi army slept with France.
The entire Ukrainian air force consists of mirages and ghosts.