Base Aérienne 116 Luxeuil Saint-Sauveur (BA 116) provided the setting for the official commemoration of 40 years of the Mirage 2000 in service with the Armée de l’air et de l’espace (French Air and Space Force). Although the anniversary had technically passed in July 2024, the occasion brought together base personnel, media, and the wider Mirage 2000 community for a fitting tribute at the home of metropolitan France’s last single-seat Mirages, the others being overseas in Djibouti. Among the invited press and aviation photographers were AeroResource’s Mark Empson and Nicholas Thompson, who travelled to eastern France to witness first-hand both the celebrations and the pride of those who continue to operate and maintain Dassault’s enduring delta. Nicholas provides the following debrief of the Mirage 2000 in French service and September’s celebrations, a piece arriving only slightly less delayed than the celebrations themselves! 

The Mirage 2000 emerged in the 1970s following France’s withdrawal from development projects with the United Kingdom. This collaborative design effort ultimately produced the Panavia Tornado, with Italy and West Germany continuing the programme after France’s departure. Dassault, meanwhile, chose to refine its existing Mirage lineage rather than pursue a twin-engine, variable-geometry design. Returning to the delta-wing, single-engine configuration that had proven so successful with the Mirage III, the company fine-tuned the concept with improved aerodynamics and the latest fly-by-wire technology.   

The first prototype, hand built in the suburbs of Paris, flew from Dassault’s Istres facility on 10 March 1978 just 2 years and 3 months after the project had been given the green light. At the hands of test pilot Jean Coureau the maiden flight lasted 65 minutes and saw the aircraft go supersonic. 6 months later the jet was on display at Farnborough airshow. Production runs commenced in 1982 and the Mirage 2000 was designated the Mirage 2000C, C for chasseur, “fighter” in French. 1984 saw the introduction of the type into service and for more than three decades the Mirage 2000C provided air defence for the French Air and Space Force. After an initial 37 aircraft, the Mirage 2000C was produced with Thales’ Radar Doppler à Impulsion (RDI). The final upgraded RDI equipped Mirage 2000Cs were phased out in 2022. EC 2/5 ‘Île-de-France’ based at Base Aérienne 115 Orange-Caritat in the southeast of France were the last operators of the original variant. 

Returning to the present day and the celebrations at BA 116, it was an upgraded Mirage 2000 that would take centre stage. The development of the Mirage 2000-5 during the 1990s marked a significant shift toward a true multirole capability, leading France to upgrade 37 airframes to the –5F standard in support of both operational requirements and export ambitions. BA 116 remains home of one of the last French units operating the –5F, Groupe de Chasse 1/2 “Cigognes” (Storks), whose aircraft formed the core of the anniversary display.  Media were welcomed at the main gate alongside French Air and Space Force personnel in their finest attire before making our way alongside the runway.  

Shortly after, the sound of jet engines started to fill the air. Four Mirages taxied to the active runway before departing in pairs. After disappearing, the formal fly pasts commenced, the four Mirage 2000-5Fs joining 5 Mirage 2000Ds and a single Mirage 2000B from Nancy-Ochey in two 5-ship “Vic” formations. The Mirage 2000B remains in small numbers in French service training future Mirage pilots, a role with increased focus in part due to the need to train Ukrainian aviators on the type. France is providing Mirage 2000-5Fs to Ukraine in aid of its defense from Russia’s invasion, the first batch arrived in February this year and further batches are expected. Whilst the air defense variants dwindle in number or have been phased out entirely it is the Mirage 2000D that still finds itself an integral part in French strategic planning and the variant of the fighter most likely to make possibilities of a Mirage 2000 50^th birthday bash in 2034 a reality.  

The Mirage 2000D is the conventional weapons development of the Mirage 2000N. The Mirage 2000N itself had been created to meet France’s requirement for a successor to the Mirage IVP in the airborne nuclear deterrence role, drawing on the two-seat Mirage 2000B but incorporating extensive modifications including a strengthened airframe and the Antilope 5 terrain-following radar for low-level penetration missions. The Mirage 2000N remained in service until its retirement in 2018 at which point the nuclear mission transferred to the Rafale. Dassault adapted the nuclear Mirage design for long-range precision strikes with conventional munitions. This variant, designated Mirage 2000D, first flew in 1991 and went on to form the core of the Armée de l’air et de l’espace’s conventional strike capability throughout operations in the Balkans, Afghanistan, and the Sahel. To sustain the fleet into the 2030s, 50 aircraft are undergoing the Rénovation Mi-Vie (RMV) upgrade programme, which introduces modernized avionics, improved connectivity including Link 16, updated cockpit displays and a new mission computer. The RMV standard also expands the type’s weapons integration, enhancing compatibility with precision-guided munitions and updating its self-defense capability thus ensuring the Mirage 2000D remains a capable and relevant element of France’s air-power inventory. 

Whilst the focus of the event remained firmly on celebrating the Mirage 2000, there was also a clear sense of transition. The finale of the day underscored this shift. The final part of the flying program was to be an airfield “beat-up”. The opening was performed in spectacular fashion by two pairs of Rafales executing a series of fast and low passes over the assembled personnel. In March French President Emmanuel Macron, on a visit to Luxeuil, declared that from 2035 BA116 would be home to 45 next generation F5 standard Rafale fighters. These are intended to be in a dedicated nuclear deterrent role armed with the latest hypersonic missile technology in the form of the ASN4G scramjet-powered cruise missile currently under development. The additional Rafale order will boost the predicted French Air and Space Force fleet size from 185 to 230 aircraft. With Luxeuil’s operational role set to change from the air defense role, France’s last remaining air superiority Mirage 2000-5Fs are ultimately destined for the history books in the not-too-distant future.

That chapter has not yet closed, however, and the ten Mirages that formed the event’s earlier flypasts returned to make their presence felt. The five Mirage 2000Ds and the sole Mirage 2000B powered down the runway leaving trails of soot and unburnt fuel from the 6 SNECMA M53 engines before breaking into the circuit. The 6 aircraft proceeded to perform missed approaches before plugging the afterburner and dispersing in multiple directions before disappearing out of sight.  

This provided a brief pause before Luxeuil’s own Mirages brought the flying programme to a close. The four aircraft that had opened the event returned in echelon formation, breaking into the pattern for landing. The lead aircraft, Mirage 2000-5F, 47 (coded 2-EP), delivered one final, sharp go-around over the gathered media before landing. The four aircraft re-joined, and the wingmen taxied back to the flight line, to debrief and join the celebrations after a job well done. 

As the day culminated, pilots, engineers, and air and space force officers gathered in the evening sunshine flanked by five examples of the Mirage 2000.  Each one of the variants was represented, M2000C, B, D, N and –5F. The aircraft were commemoratively marked, the starboard side adorned with artwork of the type and the units that flew them. The port side, a simple “40 Ans Plus” silhouette motif of a dual and single seat Mirage 2000.  

With our time on base coming to a close the gathered media made their way back to the main gate at BA116, the evening mood was joyous, those in attendance joyous with old friends reminiscing over a common friend in the Mirage 2000, and with the rotisserie BBQ in full flow we are sure the celebrations were only just beginning! 

The Mirage 2000 has long since become an icon, its delta-wing an instantly recognisable silhouette in the skies over Europe and beyond. For decades, solo routines and tactical pair displays by the type have captivated airshow audiences and reinforcing the aircraft’s reputation as one of the most distinctive fighters of its era. Even as the Armée de l’air et de l’espace transitions toward a Rafale-centred force structure, the Mirage 2000 continues to play a meaningful role within France’s defence plans. Its gradual withdrawal will mark the end of a defining chapter in French military aviation—but for the time being will continue to endure in the precision ground attack role. Perhaps the type will even celebrate half-a-century of operations before the final airframes leave service.  

AeroResource would like to thank the French Air and Space Force for their hospitality and for allowing spotters and media to this private celebratory event.

You can find more information about the French Air and Space Force’s Mirage 2000s at the following links:

Mirage 2000 D | Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs

Mirage 2000-5F | Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs

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