French Air Force Retires Mirage 2000N Fighter Aircraft

The Mirage 2000N will be withdrawn from service in favor of the transition to the "all Rafale" of the Air Force's nuclear deterrent force during the summer of 2018.

The Air Force will pay a last tribute to the Mirage 2000N during the day of commemoration of its withdrawal of service on Thursday at the base of Istres-Le Tubé (Bouches-du-Rhone).

Following their retirement, the Mirage 2000N will join the air base of Châteaudun (Eure-et-Loir) to be stored there. "The Air Force is interested in the cells of these aircraft that will be used to other Mirage 2000 fleet such as the Mirage 2000C or Mirage 2000D," commander of the squadron 2/4 ‘La Fayette’, Lieutenant Colonel Geoffroy was quoted as saying by Usinenouvelle Wednesday.

The transition to the "All Rafale" began in 2015. The aircraft will remain operational until its withdrawal from service within few months, said Geoffroy.

It is from 1988 that the Mirage 2000N gradually replaced the Mirage IIIE and Mirage IV designed by Dassault Aviation and the Jaguar SEPECAT (joint venture between Dassault Aviation and British Aerospace). 

The retirement of this plane also rings the dissolution of the 2/4 La Fayette fighter squadron in Istres. In the coming months, the 160 mechanics, pilots and navigators still present in the Bouches-du-Rhône will be transferred to other French military bases to be trained at the Rafale, Geoffroy said.