Mirage 2000 or F-16: Defense Express Compares Fighter Efficiency

Mirage 2000 or F-16: Defense Express compared the effectiveness of fighters Angela Figin

The Ukrainian Air Force already has American F-16 multirole fighters in service, and by the end of the first quarter of 2025 will receive Mirage 2000-5 fighters from France.

On air on Channel 24, Defense Express editor-in-chief Oleg Katkov compared the effectiveness of these aircraft and talked about the tasks they can perform. It should be noted that in total, Ukraine asked for the transfer of 12 Mirage 2000 units.

What tasks can the Mirage 2000 and F-16 perform

All fighters have the ability to operate as air defense systems. In particular, when it comes to repelling cruise missiles, drones, both the Mirage 2000 and the F-16 will have the same effectiveness. However, it will be different during air battles.

If the F-16 uses long-range versions of the AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles with a target destruction range of 110-160 kilometers, it will have a significantly better chance of countering Russian aviation and driving it away from the forward edge of the battlefield, Katkov noted.

According to him, the Mirage 2000 is unlikely to perform this task, since the range of its longest-range air-to-air missile MICA is up to 80 kilometers.

The AIM-120 missile is not integrated into the Mirage 2000 and will not be integrated in the future. However, in other respects, the F-16 and Mirage 2000 will have the same effectiveness. That is, as a fighter for air defense and for delivering strikes with high-precision weapons, – said the editor-in-chief of Defense Express.

For example, the F16 can use GBU-39 or JDAM-ER aerial bombs. Mirage 2000-5, given the statements about its additional modernization, will be able to use the long-range high-precision bomb AASM.

Katkov suggested that, probably, Mirage 2000-5 will receive the ability to launch Storm Shadow or SCALP-EG cruise missiles. At the same time, the F-16 already has the ability to launch American JASSM cruise missiles. However, the problem is that JASSM missiles have not been transferred to Ukraine during the term of Joe Biden, and there is a question of whether we will receive them during the presidency of Donald Trump.

By the way, the deputy general director of the electronic warfare company and aviation expert Anatoly Khrapchinsky said that Mirage aircraft can use Storm Shadow/SCALP EG missiles.