Mirage 2000 fighter jet: The French-made aircraft exported all over the world
The French-made Mirage 2000 fighter jet is back in the news after the aircraft crashed in Volyn, Ukraine, due to equipment failure.
The pilot safely ejected, and no casualties were recorded on the ground, in what was the first loss of a Mirage fighter jet since Kyiv began receiving the fighter jet in February this year.
France had sent an unverified number of Mirage 2000 fighter jets to Ukraine to help protect Ukrainian airspace from Moscow's attacks.
BFBS Forces News has looked at what we know about the upgraded Mirage 2000 fighter jets.
The French-made multi-role Mirage aircraft was first flown in 1978 and has been exported to various countries, including Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Greece, Peru, Qatar, and India.
More than 500 of these powerful aircraft, manufactured by Dassault Aviation, are currently operational worldwide.
During Cobra Warrior 2023, the Indian Air Force took part for the first time, flying their five Mirage 2000s at RAF Waddington.
Exercise Cobra Warrior is a biannual exercise designed to test pilots in high-intensity fighting operations, the largest exercise run by the Royal Air Force.
Flight Lieutenant Samarth Shukla, an Indian Air Force Mirage 2000 pilot, said: "It is the upgraded version of the old Mirage.
"It is an all-weather supersonic multi-role fighter aircraft, which means I can do simultaneous air-to-air or air-to-ground missions in one sortie."
He added that he had "travelled halfway around the world, including stops in Saudi Arabia and Greece" to join the exercise at the Lincolnshire base.
The Mirage 2000 has a span of 29.9ft, is 47ft long and weighs approximately 9,525kg (21,000lb).
It can fly at 60,000ft and comes in single-seater or twin-seater versions.
Armed with two 30mm guns, the aircraft is an effective weapon of war and has seen action all over the world.
The multirole aircraft's first flight was in 1978, and it was introduced in operational service by the French air force in 1984, in its air defence variant.
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