For a month and a half, Ukrainian pilots have been trained in France on Mirage 2000 multirole fighters.
According to ” European Truth “, this is reported by the French newspaper Le Figaro.
According to the publication, about thirty Ukrainian pilots have been undergoing accelerated training on French fighter-bombers at the Mont-de-Marsan and Nancy airbases for more than a month and a half.
The decision to train pilots was made on the eve of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Paris on February 8.
If a political decision is made, France could supply the Ukrainian army with a dozen fighter jets.
Updated 21:21. The representative of the Air Force of Ukraine, Yuriy Ignat, said that the information of the French edition of Le Figaro about the training of Ukrainian pilots in France on Mirage aircraft is not true .
The French air force now has 195 fighters – 96 Rafale and 99 Mirage 2000 of various series, another 40 aircraft – in service with the naval forces. Recently, France has been gradually phasing out the Mirage in favor of the Rafale, but the Mirage 2000-C modification is considered a pretty good aircraft, which, after additional repairs, can be sold to interested countries.
In early March, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, in a conversation with members of the Senate, noted that France had not yet made any decisions regarding aircraft for Ukraine or the training of pilots, but acknowledged that the topic was being discussed.
Earlier, American media reported that two Ukrainian pilots were already in the United States to evaluate their skills, and, according to CNN, ten more could join them.
Source: Pravda