- Yes
- No
Hey guys today I’ll be suggesting the ROCAF Mirage 2000-5EI
History
The Mirage’s story in Taiwan started in 1989 when France agreed to sell Mirage 2000-5 fighters to Taiwan after a visit from then Republic of China (ROC) chief of staff Hao BaiCun. During this time the Republic of China Airforce (ROCAF) was on a shopping spree for jet fighters after being snubbed for a decade by western military powers cozying up to China to combat the Soviet Union. However after an arms embargo was placed on China as a result of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and later the collapse of the Soviet Union, the ROCAF was able to procure more advanced fighters such as the Mirage and F-16 to replace its aging fleet of F-104’s and F-5’s.
In 1992 the procurement of Mirage 2000 fighters was made public and a contract was signed to sell Taiwan 48 Mirage 2000-5EI’s and 12 Mirage 2000-5DI trainers along with 480 short range Magic and 960 medium ranged MICA EM missiles. Making Taiwan one of the largest foreign operators of the Mirage 2000. The Mirage’s main purpose in the ROCAF is high altitude air to air combat and interception.
In 1993 Taiwanese pilots and mechanics were sent to France to train and learn about the Mirage 2000. The Taiwanese and French personnel would primarily communicate in English and training went fairly smoothly save for a few instances of misunderstanding due to heavy accents when speaking English. Tragedy struck in Chinese New Years 1996 when 499th squadron’s Captain Ge Guangyue received a call stating that 2 of the pilot’s family members (their wives and one of their kids) had died in a car accident. Training was nearly complete and finding a temporary replacement for them would be too disruptive. The two pilots decided that they would go back to Taiwan for a short time to send off the ashes of their loved ones and immediately return to France continue on with the the training. Training for all the pilots was completed on April 1 1997.
A couple of the pilots (Major Guo Rongyan and Major Lin Huiqian) underwent a special aerobatics training course for the mirage and stayed behind for an extra month in France. However they had less than the required 2000 flight hours on the mirage so the instructors (Captain Bienseant and Captain Panso) were a bit wary and only taught them simple maneuvers at first. After seeing how quickly the pilots learned the instructors continued to teach the pilots for about 10 sorties before they returned to Taiwan. Feeling more could be learned the ROCAF hired Captain Bienseant to finish the pilots training in Taiwan for another month.
In May 1997 the first Mirage’s arrived in Taiwan and were sent to Hsinchu air base making them the first French fighter aircraft delivered to the ROCAF since the Dewoitine 510c. After final delivery in 1998 the Mirage 2000-5 fighters officially became part of the ROCAF as part of the 41, 42, 48 squadrons of the 11th air group, 499 Tactical Fighter Wing. Nowadays however they serve under the 2nd tactical fighter wing after reorganization. Even though the Mirage 2000-5EI is different from the US and Taiwanese aircraft ROCAF pilots are used to, it quickly became a popular aircraft amongst pilots contributing to its continued service in the ROCAF. In 2022 4 mirages of the 2nd tactical fighter wing won a simulated dogfight against 4 F-16V’s posing as PLAAF fighters during a training exercise shooting down all four of the F-16’s and only losing one aircraft.
In recent years the Mirage 2000-5’s have started to show their age. The aircraft is too expensive for Taiwan to upgrade in France. Furthermore constant deployments to shadow PLAAF fighters entering the ADIZ and Taiwan’s hot and humid climate are pushing the 25+ year old Mirage fighters to their limits. In 2021 it was announced that an 5 year technical support agreement was signed between France and Taiwan to help maintain the Mirage fighters and its missiles.
The MICA missiles are planned to be locally updated by the National Chung Shan Institute of Technology as was announced in 2016.
Then president Chen Shui Bian presiding over the ROCAF Mirage’s formation ceremony
MICA missile delivery ceremony
Specifications
Length: 14.36 m
Wingspan: 9.13 m
Height: 5.20 m
Weight: 7,500 kg(empty), 9,500 kg(combat), 17,500 kg(max take-off)
Engine: 1 × SNECMA M53-P2 afterburning turbofan engine, 64.3 kN (14,500 lbf) thrust dry, 95.1 kN (21,400 lbf) with afterburner
Air combat Thrust to weight ratio: 0.91
Max speed: Mach 2.2 at high altitude
Max rate of climb at S/L: 17,060m/min
Time to 11,000 m (36,080 ft) at Mach 1.8: ~5 minutes
Service ceiling: 18,290 m (60,000 ft)
Normal G-load: -4.5 to +9 G’s
Armament
2 x DEFFA 554 30mm cannons
4 x MBDA MICA EM
2 x Matra R.550 Magic-II
Radar:
Thomson-CSF RDY radar
Max air to air range: 150 km
Can detect 24 targets, track 8, and engage 4 of them
Countermeasures:
ICMS Mk 2 ECM suite
SPIRALE (36 IR cartridges and 112 chaff packs)
In game
In game the Mirage 2000-5EI would bring a formidable BVR jet fighter to the Chinese tech tree and help flesh out the top tier ROC fighter jet line. With its 4 x EM MICA missiles and 2 x Magic II missiles it could perform BVR and close combat duties fairly well. One of its main drawbacks however is its lack of ground pounding ordinance which would leave it to primarily perform an air superiority role.
20th Anniversary Camouflage
Sources
https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20180115000467-260118?chdtv
http://skywarriors-gallery.com/rocaf 11ag mirage01.htm
https://ahonline.drnh.gov.tw/index.php?act=Display/image/2724416JqkThoE#elIc
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/幻影2000战斗机#中華民國空軍與幻象2000
http://taiwanairpower.org/af/mirage.html
Janes all the worlds aircraft 2000-2001
兵器戰術圖解NO.93: Illustrated Guide for Weapons & Tactics 93
兵器戰術圖書有限公司
Jul 2017 · 兵器戰術圖書有限公司
https://play.google.com/store/books/details/兵器戰術圖書有限公司_兵器戰術圖解NO_93?id=wykqDwAAQBAJ
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Osjq4fkBNHg3AEv6gPzjnQ7j182qmail