Ukraine’s Mirage 2000 fighters have begun engaging aerial targets with French-made MICA precision missiles, reports Militarnyi, citing the Volyn SOS charity.
Volyn SOS posted a photo online of a Ukrainian Mirage 2000 fitted with what Militarnyi says are MICA missiles. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have not officially commented. Kyiv has not previously disclosed which air-to-air missiles arm the Mirage jets delivered in 2025.
Ukrainian media reported in 2025 that the AFU’s Mirage 2000s could be equipped with French MICA missiles, the primary air-to-air armament for these French fighters. It was claimed Paris might transfer modernized MICA-NG missiles with a range of more than 110 km.
France adopted the MICA air-to-air missile in 1998 for the Mirage 2000 and Rafale. The initial variants were MICA-IR and MICA-EM, which differ in their guidance systems. The missiles have undergone several upgrades since; the most advanced version is the MICA-NG.
Older MICA versions have a range of up to 20 km, while the MICA-NG reaches about 110 km. The missile’s flight ceiling is up to 9 km. It is 3,100 mm long, 160 mm in diameter, with a 560 mm wingspan, and weighs 112 kg, including a 19 kg warhead.
The MICA-IR uses a bispectral imaging infrared seeker, while the MICA-EM features an AD4A active pulse-Doppler radar seeker. The MICA-NG employs an active, jam-resistant seeker capable of detecting targets with a radar cross-section of 3 square meters at up to 40 km and 0.1 square meters at up to 15 km.
Kyiv officially confirmed in 2024 that it would receive Mirage 2000 fighters. In early 2025, authorities announced the first French jets had arrived in Ukraine, saying at the time they were equipped with SCALP air-to-ground missiles.
Earlier, the Ukrainian military received a new shipment of domestically made long-range Flamingo cruise missiles.
