Deliveries of the first of 30 Mirage 2000-9 multirole fighters
for the United Arab Emirates has begun, with the first four aircraft
arriving in the last few weeks. The rest will be delivered in
groups of four every two or three months, according to SNECMA,
which makes the aircraft's M53-P2 engine. The UAE plans to upgrade
33 older Mirage 2000s to the same configuration.
Now qualified for the 2000-9 is MICA IR, the infrared homing version
of the MICA air-to-air missile, which is not due to be operational
on French air force Mirage 2000-5Fs before 2005. According to
French air force Mirage 2000-5 project officer Major Emmanuel
Vialle, the missile has four modes: lock-on after launch, with
or without a datalink; over-the-shoulder shot with a helmet-mounted
display; and a mode in which the seeker is slaved to the fighter's
radar before launch. MICA IR can engage targets flying below a
cloud deck, and cab also be used in an air-surveillance mode,
using its seeker as an infrared search-and-track system.
The Mirage 2000-9 also carries the Shehab infrared/laser navigation
and targeting system (a UAE version of Damocles) and the Nahar
navigation pod. Many key components-including the modular data
processing unit (MDPU) mission computer-are drawn from the Rafale.
The Mirage 2000-9's integrated multimission electronic warfare
system (IMEWS), developed by Thales and Elettronica, is characterized
by French engineers as a targeting-capable system, with more precise
and faster range measurement capabilities than the Rafale's Spectra,
allowing the aircraft to perform defense-suppression missions.
France's 37 Mirage 2000-5Fs, which have been modified from older
2000Cs, are due to receive enhancements to allow them to engage
targets beyond visual identification range. A MIDS Link 16 datalink
should be integrated in 2006, along with the Thales AIDA visual
identification pod comprising elements of the Rafale frontal-sector
optronics system repackaged in the Damocles pod. This will give
them the ability to declare a target as hostile using two independent
means of identification.
