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Updated November 25th, 2021 at 14:57 IST

IAF acquires two Mirage 2000 fighters from France to bolster fighter aircraft fleet

As the tensions remain high on the border both with the Chinese and the Pakistanis, the Indian Air Force has received a major boost to its fighter jet fleet

Reported by: Aayush Anandan
IAF
IMAGE: ANI | Image:self
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As the tensions remain high on the border both with the Chinese and the Pakistanis, the Indian Air Force has received a major boost to its fighter jet fleet as two-second hand Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft have arrived from France at its Gwalior airbase. As per the news agency ANI, the government sources said, "The Indian Air Force has received two Mirage 2000 trainer version aircraft from France. The two aircraft were flying with their Air Force and arrived at the Gwalior airbase recently."

The sources further added that the aircrafts will not be upgraded with the latest technology to keep up with the latest standards as part of the Mirage upgrade programme going on in the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The two aircraft were acquired by the Indian Air Force as part of the programme to make up the number of aircraft in the Mirage fighter fleet to around 50. The IAF had recently purchased around 51 Mirages in different batches and they form three squadrons which are all based in the Gwalior Air Force station.

More about the Mirage aircraft

The Mirage upgrade deal between the French and Indian sides was for enhancing the capabilities of 51 aircraft and some of these kits are left due to crashes involving these planes. These kits can be placed on the French Air Force planes and that would make them suitable for combat operations. The Indian Air Force has smartly invested to scout phased out old French aircraft and to upgrade them using technological brilliance, which will help the IAF to maintain them for the next 15 years.  

The Mirages have been in use since 1980 and were an important part of both the Kargil war to the 2019 Balakot airstrikes where they bombed a Jaish e Mohammed terrorist camp in Pakistan. The Mirages also successfully took out Pakistan Army camps and bunkers on the Tiger Hilltop in the Kargil war and changed the face of the war by successfully hitting enemy camps at such high altitudes with pinpoint precision using laser-guided bombs.

(with ANI inputs)

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Published November 25th, 2021 at 14:57 IST

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