Mirage 2000D ready for the next 10+ years

 

Our western neighbours are modernising 55 of there 71 resting Mirage 2000D with some important mid-life updates to fullfill there role 'till 2030. The biggest surprise is the installation of an external pod for a canon DEFA 30mm named CC422. The direction générale de l'armement (DGA) wants to give the bomber aircrafts more flexibility with that - needing no more the help of the Mirage 2000C or Rafale aircrafts to supress enemy troops / showing of force on the battleground. Other upgrades includes the change from MAGIG 2 to MICA air-to-air missiles and the possibility to further improve the weapon load and new defence and navigation systems. 

Some important notes about the Mirage 2000D

- first flight february 19th, 1991; operational since april 9th, 1993

- integration of Link16 in between 2009 and 2011, called Mirage 2000D VI

- with the withdrawal of the Mirage F1 in 2014, Mirage 2000D received there ASTAC (Analyseur de Signaux TACtiques) reconnaissance pod

- 1st flight with mid-life update january 7th, 2021

An Mirage 2000D arriving at the Good Bye ceremony for Swiss Air Force's Mirage IIIS at Buochs airfield back in 1999

Emergency Airworthiness Directives (EAD) for Pilatus training aircrafts

It began a few weeks ago with an 1st Emergency Airworthiness Directive for the Harley-type buckle assemblies in the seat harness of the ejection seat on Pilatus PC-21 training aircraft. French Air Force recognised a problem and informed Martin Baker/Pilatus and the respective governments:

Pilatus PC-21 is the latest turboprop-powered advanced military training aircraft and in use by the Air Forces of Australia (49), France (17), Jordan (12), Qatar (24), Saudi Arabia (55), Singapore (19), Spain (24, 1st delivery end of 2020; will replace mainly the CASA C-101 Aviojet, but will also take over advanced training which is currently carried out on the T-35 Pillan), Switzerland (8), United Arab Ermirates (25) and the United Kingdom (2 for advanced training in ETPS).

At this moment (December 23rd), there are all modern military training aircraft systems of Pilatus Aircraft Ltd listed with the same problem of requiring a specific inspection.

Evaluation NKF - Mission Rafale

Third candidate comes from just the country beside - la France ! With quite a lot of common training between our Air Forces and good relations, France is expected as a favourite. Now they have to show the capabilities of there new generation of fighter aircraft.

Rafale on duty for Sky Police - and the French Air Force says 'desolée' ...

It's really intriguing that the 'normal' people know nothing about the duties of the Air Forces around the globe ... yesterday the French Air Force (Armée de l'Air, AdlA) announced an sorry for the sonic boom created by an Rafale Fighter to intercept an aircraft that have lost radio contact with the ATC (Air Traffic Control) on thursday evening:

(via fb)

Anyway, with those votation coming in Switzerland about the future of our Air Defence (Air2030) it's really important for all you readers out there to inform your family and friends about it. Our Air Force has not enough aircrafts left to fly regularly over crowded areas like Zurich just for fun and show of force, there is normally no need for leaving the regular training areas above the alps and jura mountains. Out of sight, out of mind ....

French pilot school visits Emmen

Armee de l'Air sent five (of there 99 remaining) AlphaJets to Switzerland, visiting our schooling 'till tomorrow. Unfortunally the weather ist not as nice today - but flights with Alphajets and PC-21 on mixed crews can be expected.

Flightline
E35 as FAF6441

E42 as FAF6442

E94 as FAF6443

E153 as FAF6444

E163 as FAF6445

Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet (via wikipedia)

The Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet is a light attack jet and advanced jet trainer co-manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France and Dornier Flugzeugwerke of Germany. It was developed specifically to perform the trainer and light attack missions, as well as to perform these duties more ideally than the first generation of jet trainers that preceded it. Following a competition, a design submitted by a team comprising Breguet Aviation, Dassault Aviation, and Dornier Flugzeugwerke, initially designated as the TA501, was selected and subsequently produced as the Alpha Jet.

Both the French Air Force and German Air Force procured the Alpha Jet in large numbers, the former principally as a trainer aircraft and the latter choosing to use it as a light attack platform. As a result of post-Cold War military cutbacks, Germany elected to retire its own fleet of Alpha Jets in the 1990s and has re-sold many of these aircraft to both military and civilian operators. The Alpha Jet has been adopted by a number of air forces across the world and has also seen active combat use by some of these operators.

Armée de l'Air is using this aircraft for the famous Patrouille de France display team.

Alpha Jet in Service by the Belgian Air Component, second largest mid-european user today.

SABCA Gosselies in Belgium finishes with the last overhauled Belgian Air Force Dassault-Breguet Alpha Jet these days. The history of the Alpha Jet and Sabca started in the late 1970s when the factory was responsible for the assembly of 32 (out of 33 ordered) aircraft that were ordered for the Belgian Air Force in late 1973.
In recent years the number of sightings of Belgian Air Force Alpha Jets was reduced considerably as in 2004 the first aircraft moved to Cazaux in France to be operated in the Belgo-French AJeTS (Advanced Jet Training School). In early 2017 the Belgian Air Force announced to end this collaboration and that future pilots would be trained in the United States instead. The future of the remaining Alpha Jets was uncertain, as the last flights of the aircraft were scheduled for mid 2019. At this moment 29 aircraft remain in service and as it appears now 25 of these aircraft will be offered for sale in small batches, the remaining four will be kept for preservation. Noteworthy is that the official authorization by the government still has to be given.
So far no possible interested candidates have made themselves known to the Belgian Air Force.

Belgo-French AJeTS, Casaux (F): AT01/02/03/05/06/08/09/10/11/12/13/14/15/17-33

Portugal has received 50 former German Luftwaffe Alpha Jets, withdrawn there fleet January 13th, 2018.