On Wednesday, July 1, 2026, France’s Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans announced that its Directorate General of Armaments (Direction générale de l’Armement, DGA) had delivered the 50th and final upgraded Dassault Mirage 2000D RMV multirole aircraft to the Air and Space Force (Armée de l’Air et de l’Espace).
Photo: Ministry of the Armed Forces and Veterans
The delivery took place on June 16, but the information was only disclosed now. Deliveries had originally been scheduled for completion by the end of 2025. The upgrade will allow the aircraft to remain in service until 2035, when they are to be fully replaced by Dassault Rafale F4/F5 fighters, supported by combat unmanned aerial vehicles, the so-called loyal wingmen.
The work was carried out at the state-owned Atelier industriel de l’aéronautique (AIA) de Clermont-Ferrand (63) facilities, under the Service industriel de l’aéronautique (SIAé).
The RMV modernization program was launched in 2016, with Dassault Aviation and MBDA selected as the main contractors. Its purpose is to extend the service life of the Mirage 2000D, which entered service in 1993. Initially, the plan was to upgrade 55 of the 71 aircraft, but as a result of budget cuts and changes to the 2024–2030 Military Programming Law (Loi de programmation militaire, LPM), that number was first reduced to 48 and ultimately increased to 50 aircraft, as confirmed last year.
As mentioned, 50 aircraft were delivered to the 3rd Fighter Wing at Nancy-Ochey Air Base 133 in the Grand Est region, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department, while two additional aircraft went to the DGA EV flight test center (Direction générale de l’armement Essais en vol), located at Commandant Marzac Air Base 120 in Cazaux, in the Gironde department.
In 2021, the first upgraded aircraft, No. 639, was delivered to the CEAM/AWC experimental center (Centre d’Expertise Aérienne Militaire/Air Warfare Center), which is responsible for expertise, experimentation, and operational validation of aerial weapon systems.
RMV package
As part of the upgrade, the Mirage 2000D RMV was integrated with U.S.-made precision-guided bombs guided by laser and GPS signal: the 454-kg (1,000-lb) GBU-48/B Enhanced Paveway II, the 227-kg (500-lb) GBU-49 Enhanced Paveway II, and the 907-kg (2,000-lb) GBU-50 Enhanced Paveway II. The aircraft can now carry three bombs instead of the previous two.
The Mirage 2000D RMV also received a 30-mm DEFA 553 cannon, with 180 rounds of ammunition, for close-range combat, carried in a CC422 underwing pod on the left side of the air intake, as well as the ability to use MBDA MICA IR air-to-air missiles with a focal-plane-array infrared imaging seeker (FPA IIR) in place of the R.550 Magic 2. In 2018–2019, the CC422 pod was tested at DGA EV.
The new Thales TALIOS targeting pod (TArgeting Long-range Identification Optronic System), previously known as PDL-NG (Pod de Désignation Laser de Nouvelle Génération), replaced the previously used ATLIS II and PDL CTS pods. In total, the upgrade covered about 50 equipment items, including avionics equipment in the cockpit.
The electronic systems were completely rebuilt, eliminating obsolete components. Digital, intuitive multifunction displays were introduced, improving ergonomics and crew situational awareness. In terms of mission software, the LION, PANDA, SINGE, and LIANE systems were installed to facilitate mission planning and execution, and a human-machine interface was introduced.
[#Livraison ✈️] La DGA livre à l’armée de l’Air et de l’Espace le dernier avion Mirage 2000D RMV
Le 16 juin 2026, la DGA a livré à l’@Armee_de_lair le 50ᵉ et dernier Mirage 2000D rénové à mi-vie #RMV ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/G5KXsdUcrp
— Direction générale de l’armement 🇫🇷 (@DGA) July 2, 2026
See also:
