40+ Years Mirage 2000

Text and photos by Robin Polderman

On the 17th of September, the French Armee de l’Air organized an event at the airbase of Luxeuil, in the eastern part of France, to commemorate 40+ years of service of the Dassault Mirage 2000.

The base aerienne 116 (BA116) hosted more than a thousand guests, many of whom had flown, or worked on, the Mirage 2000 in the past.

The first Mirage 2000C aircraft were delivered to EC01.002 in 1984. This very unit is currently the last to fly the single-seat version of the Mirage 2000 in French Air Force service, having moved from Dijon to Luxeuil in 2011.

The Mirage 2000, the first French fighter equipped with the Fly-by-Wire control system, formed the backbone of the Armee de l’Air in the late eighties and nineties, before the delivery of the AMD Rafale started in earnest. A number of Mirage 2000C aircraft received an extensive mid-life-update in the late 90s, making them Mirage 2000-5F. Following the withdrawal of the original Mirage 2000C and the nuclear-capable Mirage 2000N, three variants remain in service. Besides the already mentioned Mirage 2000-5F, a handful of two-seat Mirage 2000B trainers continues to provide stellar service from Nancy air base. The Mirage 2000B aircraft operate next to 50 Mirage 2000D-RMV multi role two-seat aircraft, an upgraded variant of the original Mirage 2000D destined to serve until 2035.

All five variants of the Mirage 2000 were shown in the static display, with all of them receiving special markings.

In the afternoon four Luxeuil-based Mirage 2000-5Fs took off, and were joined in the air by a Mirage 2000B and five Mirage 2000Ds from Nancy. The ten jets performed several flypasts before heading to an orbiting French Air Force A330MRTT tanker.

Four Rafale B aircraft from St.Dizier performed an airfield attack, followed by various flypasts and touch&goes of the ten Mirage aircraft. Finally, the four Mirage 2000-5F landed and everything went quiet again.

Earlier this year, a number of Mirage 2000-5F aircraft (said to be six) were handed over to Ukraine, with apparently more to follow in due course.

The 116th Air Base will close somewhere around 2029 to prepare the base for the future. Starting in 2032, Luxeuil will see the influx of two squadrons of the latest Rafale variant, the F5, able to carry hypersonic nuclear missiles. With this step, the French will increase the number of nuclear-capable squadrons from three to five. Besides the EC01.002 squadron, the second unit to be formed is rumoured to be the ‘Picardie’ squadron, the former EC02.012 from the, now closed, air base of Cambrai.

A total of 1.5 billion euros will be invested in Luxeuil air base, and the new task will see the number of personnel working there increase from 1000 to 2000 by 2035.

Many thanks to the communications section of BA116 for the excellent photo opportunities.