Greece Offers Retired Mirage 2000-5 Fighter Jets to India

Greece has offered to sell India its fleet of retired French-made Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets, potentially bolstering the Indian Air Force's existing Mirage capabilities. This offer comes as Greece modernizes its own air force with newer Rafale and F-35 jets.

The offer was reportedly presented by Greece's Chief of the General Staff of the Defense Forces, General Dimitrios Houpis, during a recent visit to India. Greece acquired 15 Mirage 2000-5s in 2000, including both single-seat and two-seat trainer variants.

These Mirage 2000-5s, being relatively young at less than 25 years old, still have an estimated 10-15 years of operational life remaining. India, which already operates a fleet of 50 Mirage 2000-5 fighters, is particularly interested in acquiring two of the Greek trainer jets to enhance pilot training capabilities.

It remains to be seen if the Indian Air Force will acquire the entire fleet of 15 aircraft offered by Greece. The decision will likely depend on a detailed analysis of costs and benefits in relation to India's current fleet and future plans. The IAF aims to keep its Mirage-2000 fleet operational until 2035, when it plans to replace them with the domestically developed Tejas MkII fighter jets.

Greece's offer of Mirage 2000-5s could provide India with a valuable opportunity to expand its fighter jet capabilities and enhance pilot training. The outcome of this potential deal will be of interest to those following developments in both countries' defense strategies.

 

[Man-ju]

Depends on the cost at which they are offering, given the excellent record for HAL for timely delivery. It's a economical stop gap measure. Most likely this was a backup plan by IAF which was supposed to get 21 MiG29 from Russia but i think after war with Ukraine and payment crisis that would be no longer feasible.

 

[Ajath]

Not a bad idea especially if the.platform can still fly for another 15 years.

 

[Pink Panther]

When the world is moving towards 5th and 6th gen fighters we are buying second hand mirages great job guys let’s waste more tax money what can go wrong?🫡

Not too bad, only 24 years old, according IAF standards they still have 15-20 years life left in them, IAF never retires any jet unless they themselves fall from the sky and retire. Morocco and Egypt recently bought all of UAE Mirage 2000-9 jets and, they were recently upgraded and still have lot of life left in them, we could have bought them as well

 

[Pink Panther]

Makes no sense if price is high.

They are giving all the jets for few millions, buying one Rafale cost $300Mln+, some will be cannibalized for part and some will be inducted with minimal repairs it seems.

 

[Pink Panther]

I believe they are looking at this more from the perspective of cannibalization for parts to support existing fleet of Mirage 2000s.

These frames are only 24 years old, they could still be inducted with minor repairs adding one new squadron.

 

[Anant]

Oh, ok! But i believe they already grabbed some from another country.

We purchased 24 airframe from France for 1 million Euros each (excluding the costs of getting them here). Of these, 8 are now flying, 5 are being used as ground instructional airframes, and 11 are intended to be scavenger for parts.

Greek Mirage 2000s have a similar life as the French airframes which we purchased. As such, it is possible 1 or 2 of these may be airworthiness, with the rest being sources of spares.

 

[Anant]

Depends on the cost at which they are offering, given the excellent record for HAL for timely delivery. It's a economical stop gap measure. Most likely this was a backup plan by IAF which was supposed to get 21 MiG29 from Russia but i think after war with Ukraine and payment crisis that would be no longer feasible.

I am not too sure of those MiG-29s. For one, they are baseline MiG-29s that were manufactured in the 1980s but never assembled. Considering that these components have been in storage for 40 years now, I would have some very serious doubts about their viability to start with.

 

[kumar]

Not bad.
15 comes close to 1 squadron.

 

[Anant]

Not too bad, only 24 years old, according IAF standards they still have 15-20 years life left in them, IAF never retires any jet unless they themselves fall from the sky and retire. Morocco and Egypt recently bought all of UAE Mirage 2000-9 jets and, they were recently upgraded and still have lot of life left in them, we could have bought them as well

They haven't bought them yet. Negotiations are still underway for the UAE to sell off their 59 Mirage 2000s after their Rafales start entering service. France has only green-lit the sale yesterday.

The 30 Mirage 2000s (including 8 trainers) that Morocco is planning to get are planned to replace their 19 Alpha Jets, and take overall fighter numbers up to 100. Once they start receiving their 25 new F-16Vs, those will replace the F-5s and non-modernised Mirage F1s.

The 29 Mirage 2000s (including 7 trainers) that Egypt is getting is more of an India-style acquisition. They presently have 19 Mirage 2000s in service, and the idea here is to get around 18-19 of these into active service (including all trainers ideally) to allow them to phase out their lone L-39 and reach 500 fighters (25 sqaudrons of 18, which is their target, plus spares).

 

[Anant]

Far better to acquire these aircrafts and cancel the mrfa, instead use surplus funds to fastrack the Tejas mk 2 and amca.

Yeah... not happening. These aircraft will only be a stopgap measure, and a small number of these would actually be retained for flight operations. This sort of acquisition is mostly for spares. MRFA is still just as necessary as it always has been.

 

[Anant]

Practical approach , we need 42 squadrons ..new Tejas or Mrfa needs budget .and time to make ..if u get Mirage for small fraction of cost ...second hand price then go for it ...and then get POK & GB soon.

Not quite. Firstly, the best case scenario is for 18 Mirage 2000s. Not all of them will be airworthiness, and even if they were, that'd be 1 squadron. If we acquire all 18, chances are we will have 6 or 7 of these that will fly for the IAF, another 3 or 4 that will be used as instructional airframes, and the rest being used for spares.

 

[Anant]

Not bad.
15 comes close to 1 squadron.

Do remember that not all of these will fly. Chances are we will have 5-6 of these that will be capable of long-term flight operations, with the rest being used as instructional airframes and spare parts sources. Still, having another 5-6 flying Mirage 2000s will take our numbers up to 60, which will finally allow for the operationalisation of the long-planned third Mirage 2000 squadron.

 

[Gajanan Rao]

No worries. We can save money and later on customise these planes. Also, none of our neighbours can withstand these old planes. We will make them more than Vth gen

 

[Akshat]

There is no use in fantasy dreams about such garbage toys better that money should be added to additional orders for Mk1A

Where are the mk1a planes already ordered?

 

[Sridhar]

When the world is moving towards 5th and 6th gen fighters we are buying second hand mirages great job guys let’s waste more tax money what can go wrong?🫡

To sustain the Mirage 2000 fleet till it's retirement.

 

[Akshat]

IAF will always love imported, even if it is junked, but will not support local designs whole heartedly. They took 18 long years from 1st flight in 2001, to validate and provide the FOC for the Tejas. In 2019, Abhinandan faced F16 with an old Mig21. Unfortunately they are themselves responsible for the current situation, where they have to look at used parts from a foreign country. Just imagine, if IAF had provided the FOC by 2010, the whole of the MK1 would have been in squadron service by 2018 and by this year, we would have begun inducting the MK2.
A total 23 years wasted

Another comment with an absolute disregard for facts. Simple question. Do you even know who provides FOC to Tejas?

 

[Vijigishu ( विजिग्शु )]

Not just HAL - everyone who is involved in defence planning/funding etc

Yes the blame lies with govt too. Should've privatised HAL long ago.

 

[Pink Panther]

They haven't bought them yet. Negotiations are still underway for the UAE to sell off their 59 Mirage 2000s after their Rafales start entering service. France has only green-lit the sale yesterday.

The 30 Mirage 2000s (including 8 trainers) that Morocco is planning to get are planned to replace their 19 Alpha Jets, and take overall fighter numbers up to 100. Once they start receiving their 25 new F-16Vs, those will replace the F-5s and non-modernised Mirage F1s.

The 29 Mirage 2000s (including 7 trainers) that Egypt is getting is more of an India-style acquisition. They presently have 19 Mirage 2000s in service, and the idea here is to get around 18-19 of these into active service (including all trainers ideally) to allow them to phase out their lone L-39 and reach 500 fighters (25 sqaudrons of 18, which is their target, plus spares).

some of UAE Mirages are recently upgraded to 2000-9 standard, they could be directly inducted.

 

[amerjit johal]

Yes the blame lies with govt too. Should've privatised HAL long ago.

What's the point of completely privitising HAL if it just secures retail and institutional investors who have no knowledge or expertise in moving HAL forward.
We need someone like BAe LM Boeing Dassault to take a 51% ownership.

 

[abony boro]

India is trying hard to export it's LCA Tejas to South America, Africa and Philippines before it could even fulfill its required strength; now it's planning to buy old Mirage. Strange indeed.
By the way China or Pakistan will never wage a war with India in next decade. So why go for old Aircraft just to increase the number. Can HAL, DRDO not rump up production and complete the kaveri engine?. Why depend on USA for engine's? We may not trust Chinese products quality but they have enough quantity and can do mass production. therefore unless we make our own we cannot think of taking on china.

 

[Prashu Sam]

Wow, Something that small country like Greece want to get rid of and India is interested in buying. Just to keep Vintage fleet alive.

What a price to pay for failed start on AMCA, MRFA, Addtional rafale purchase and infamous TEJAS induction!!!