Le Parisien Matin: Athens considers French plan to send Mirage jets to Ukraine in exchange for acquiring Rafale aircraft on preferential terms

Negotiations are underway, according to a study by the French paper Le Parisien Matin, betwixt Emmanuel Macron and the Greek authorities regarding the transportation of Greek Mirage 2000 combatant jets to Ukraine, arsenic portion of a broader speech statement involving French Rafale aircraft, up of the French president’s sojourn to Greece connected Friday, April 24, and Saturday, April 25.

How the program is analysed

The program described by the paper is based connected a analyzable concern and subject mechanism, according to which France proposes purchasing the entirety of Greece’s Mirage 2000 fleet, successful bid for the craft to beryllium transferred to the Eastern European beforehand successful Ukraine. In return, Greece would unafraid favourable presumption for the procurement of next-generation Rafale combatant jets from Dassault, portion besides strengthening the modernisation of its Armed Forces wrong the model of the “Agenda 2030” plan.

The fleet nether information includes 24 Mirage 2000-5 Mk II, known for their interception capabilities, arsenic good arsenic 17 to 19 older Mirage EGM/BGM aircraft, which could beryllium utilized arsenic a root of spare parts. However, the occurrence of the program depends mostly connected Dassault’s quality to present the Rafale craft connected time, astatine a infinitesimal erstwhile request for the combatant is already peculiarly high.

The captious parameters for Athens

Beyond the method aspect, governmental and geostrategic parameters stay crucial. Athens indispensable measurement the anticipation of creating a capableness spread successful its aerial defence, peculiarly regarding information successful the Aegean, which is simply a halfway priority. At the aforesaid time, the planned extremity of method enactment for the Mirage 2000-5 by Dassault successful 2027 makes this enactment much realistic for the Greek side.

The French Ministry of Defence stresses that the inaugural is portion of a broader European strategy of assets coordination, aiming to make a coherent “fighter alliance”. The transportation of the Mirage jets is expected to importantly heighten Ukraine’s operational capabilities, arsenic the craft tin transportation SCALP missiles and behaviour effectual aerial surveillance missions.

According to a subject advisor to the French presidency, “this program represents the astir important reinforcement of Ukrainian aerial powerfulness since the opening of the war.” Integration logistics stay a challenge, but France has committed to providing afloat method enactment to travel the transportation of the Greek Mirages to Ukrainian territory.

The coming weeks are considered captious for finalising the fiscal presumption of the agreement, with Emmanuel Macron expected to sermon the substance astatine the highest level and formally o.k. the presumption of the declaration during his gathering with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis successful Athens. Athens is seeking guarantees that nary operational spread volition beryllium created, portion the anticipation of further equipment, specified arsenic precocious air-to-air missiles, is besides being considered.

France could see batches of high-performance air-to-air missiles to guarantee the contiguous effectiveness of the transportation of Greek Mirage craft to Ukraine. Kyiv is present awaiting the last greenish airy from the Greek authorities, hoping that this large reinforcement volition let it to support its cities and captious infrastructure from Russian aerial threats that person weighed connected the state for months. This contented volition stay astatine the centre of European defence quality until its completion, expected by the extremity of April.

This imaginable takes connected a broader European dimension, arsenic it strengthens France’s strategical power successful the defence assemblage and reshapes the absorption of subject instrumentality among allies. Furthermore, according to the report, for Europe this precedent weakens the taboo connected large-scale transfers of dense weapons and establishes a caller model: the circular system of arms.