A Dassault Mirage 2000N of the French Air Force in flight on October 13th, 2013.
The Dassault Mirage 2000N/D is a variant of the Mirage 2000 designed for nuclear strike. It forms the core of the French air-based tactical nuclear deterrent. The Mirage 2000D is its conventional attack counterpart.
Variants[]
Mirage 2000N[]
The Mirage 2000N is the nuclear strike variant which was intended to carry the Aerospatiale Air-Sol Moyenne Portee (ASMP) nuclear stand-off missile. Initial flight tests of two prototypes began on February 3rd 1983, and the Mirage 2000N entered operational service in 1988. A total of seventy-six were built.
The fighter had strengthened wings for low-altitude operations, as well as low-level precision navigation/attack systems, built around the Dassault/Thales Antilope 5 RDF, which was designed for the strike role and featured a terrain-avoidance capability.
The ASMP missile is 5.38 meters long with a kerosene-powered ramjet that allows it to cruise at Mach 3 to a maximum range of 100 km carrying a nuclear warhead with a yield of 300 kt.
Upgrades[]
- The existing kit was enhanced to provide an electronic intelligence (ELINT) capability, allowing the aircraft to record data on adversary emitters for post-flight intelligence analysis.
- A SAT Samir "Detecteur de Depart Missile (DDM)" missile-warning system was also added, being attached to the back of the Magic AAM pylons.
- Future upgrades include the addition of a Pod Reco NG (Pod de Reconnaissance Nouvelle Generation) to provide digital reconnaissance capabilities, with both day and night imagers, a digital data recorder system, and a datalink to provide real-time relay of imagery to battlefield commanders. It is being developed by Thales for service introduction in 2006.
Aircraft with the updated countermeasures system and capable of carrying both the ASMP-A missile and the Pod Reco NG will be redesignated "Mirage 2000N-K3".
Mirage 2000D[]
Delays in the Dassault Rafale fourth-generation fighter program led to a development program for an updated Mirage 2000N dedicated to conventional attack, originally designated Mirage 2000N cousin. It was to complement SEPECAT Jaguar daylight strike fighters by providing a night/bad weather attack capability.
Formal development began in 1988. The designation was changed to Mirage 2000D in 1990, with the "D" standing for "Diversifie/Multirole". Initial flight of the Mirage 2000D prototype, a modified Mirage 2000N prototype, was on 19 February 1991. That led to first flight of a production aircraft March 31st 1993 and introduction to service in April 1995. Eighty-six Mirage 2000Ds were built in all to last delivery in 2001.
The Mirage 2000D featured:
- An NVG-compatible cockpit, with improved "hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS)" controls and a partial "glass cockpit" arrangement. The pilot obtained a second display, and the back-seater received two more for a total of three in the rear.
- A modernized ULISS 52P navigation system with Global Positioning System (GPS) capability,
- An improved Antilope 50 terrain-following system.
- An updated "ICMS 2" countermeasures system, with SERVAL RWR, Chameleon jammer, and Spirale dispensers.
Full-specification Mirage 2000D-R1 aircraft could carry stores such as:
- All major dumb munitions, such as iron bombs, Belouga cluster bombs, Durandal runway breaker bombs, BAP 100 and BAP 120 clusters, Matra 68 millimeter rocket pods, and cannon pods.
- Laser-guided weapons such as the AS-30L ASM or French and US LGBs, with the munitions directed by an ATLIS II or improved optical-infrared PDLCT and high-resolution PDLCTS targeting pods, attached to a pylon under the right air intake. The navigator/WSO in the back seat handled laser targeting while the pilot in the front flew the aircraft. Carriage of the next-generation Damocles pod is now under consideration.
- he Armat antiradar missile, though this is rarely carried.
The Mirage 2000D remains in service, with various improvements such as the MICA IR. A general upgrade designated Mirage 2000D-R2 machine was delivered from 2001. A second upgrade program was begun in 2009, with better support for the strike role and improvement of air-to-air capabilities. This provided a multirole capability that compensated for the eventual retirement of the Mirage 2000Cs.
Users[]
- France
- Armée de l'Air x 162 (76 x Dassault Mirage 2000N and 86 x Dassault Mirage 2000D)
