- Yes, don’t care how
- Yes, as a researchable vehicle
- Yes, as a premium/event/squadron vehicle
- No
- France
- United Arab tree
- Other
- I said no
Hey everyone, I’m back with yet another Mirage variant to add. This time we will be having a look at the Mirage F1EM VI, also known as the MF2000.
The story of these aircraft begins in 1975, when Morocco placed an order of 50 Mirage F1s. These aircraft were divided in 2 variants, 30 CHs and 20 EHs. They were split up in to 2 squadrons, one having ground attack as a primary mission, the other having air defense. The aircraft were used quite extensively over the years to come, seeing action mostly over the Western Sahara area. However, by the time the 2000s came around, the aircraft were already at most 22 years old (the first deliveries having taken place in 1978) and their capabilities were seen as insufficient. The Moroccan government therefore decided to look into upgrading their fleet of Mirage F1s. The result of this was the MF2000 program, a series of upgrades that would vastly modernize the capabilities of their Mirage F1 fleet. The program was started in 2005 and a total of 27 Moroccan Mirage F1s were converted to the new standard.
The upgrade itself was provided by ASTRAC, a state-owned French company, with the actual work taking place in Charleroi, Belgium. We got the first look of what seemed to be an MF2000 standard Mirage F1 at the 2009 Le Bourget airshow in France.
However, the aircraft show here was in fact not an MF2000 at all, but rather an F1CT with a few upgrades to the cockpit that was portrayed as being an MF2000. The actual prototype (of which I have no images) only took to the skies in October of 2009, so after the Le Bourget airshow. The aircraft was thoroughly tested over the next few months, in the summer of 2010 it was then sent back to Morocco for activity transfers. In the mean time it seems that all 27 airframes have been updated, and are already being phased out (or at least being planned to be) in favor of newer F-16s. The MF2000 aircraft were renamed to EM VI (named after Mohammed VI) in Moroccan service, this is also how you can distinguish the upgraded aircraft over the older ones that will just show CH or EH.
Now that we’ve been over the aircraft’s history, let’s take a look at everything that was actually upgraded. There’s a decent amount of things to go through, since the upgrade basically brought these aircraft up to par with the Mirage 2000-5 in electronics and weaponry.
- First of all, the old Cyrano IV radar was replaced by the much improved RDY radar. In this case the RDY-3, a model that was specifically designed for the MF2000 and which features a smaller antenna to fit in the nose of the F1. This radar finally gave the aircraft access to a proper pulse-doppler mode and as such full look-down shoot-down abilities.
- The cockpit was fully modernized, replacing old analogue instruments by new two-colour multifunction displays where possible. It also received a new HUD and full HOTAS controls. The cockpit was also made compatible with helmet-mounted sights. A new zero-zero ejection seat was also added.
- A new Inertial-aided GPS Navigator in the form of the Sagem Sigma 95 was added.
- A bunch of other electronics were also upgraded, including a new RWR, new data link, new secure voice radios, new weapons management system, …
- The engine was augmented by adding a new compressor, which results in a 4% thrust increase of the Atar 9K-50 engine, from 7200kgf to 7500kgf.
- Compatibility was added with the external PAJ FA ECM pod, which is an electronic protection pod.
- Fitting of Corail (flares) and phimat (chaff) countermeasure systems.
- Compatibility with the Thales Damocles pod.
- Augmented air-to-air weaponry, bringing the options to AIM-9L/M Sidewinder, Magic 2 or IR MICA missiles as well as the radar-guided variant of the MICA missile, the MICA EM.
- Augmented air-to-ground weaponry, adding the AASM and a variety of GPS and laser guided weapons.
With all these upgrades the MF2000s can be considered quite capable aircraft. In game it would offer a nice mix between Mirage F1 and 2000-5 abilities, combining the flight performance of the former with the systems of the latter. Especially the addition of all the key systems that currently make an aircraft meta in game (being pulse-doppler radar, rwr, countermeasures and good missiles) turn this into a particularly interesting upgrade over the Mirage F1 we know from the French air force. For balance sake I do understand that both MICA and Magic 2 missiles would currently be quite OP (though that is likely to change in the future). However, the aircraft is still compatible with the Magic 1 missile as well. I’m not sure if it is still compatible with the Super 530F missile or if it has been made compatible with the Super 530D, but that question seems to be mostly irrelevant since Morocco doesn’t appear to have ever acquired either of those missiles. The RDY radar is theoretically capable of guiding the Super 530D missile though, so it could be added if Gaijin wants it so.
General characteristics
- Crew: 1
- Length: 15.3 m (50 ft 2 in)
- Wingspan: 8.4 m (27 ft 7 in)
- Height: 4.5 m (14 ft 9 in)
- Wing area: 25 m2 (270 sq ft)
- Empty weight: unknown after upgrade, original weight: 7,400 kg
- Max takeoff weight: unknown after upgrade, original: 16,200 kg
- Powerplant: 1 × augmented SNECMA Atar 9K-50 afterburning turbojet engine, 7500kgf (73.5499kn) thrust.
- RWR: yes
- Flares: yes
- Chaff: yes
- Radar: RC400 RDY-3 (pulse doppler radar)
Armament:
- Air-to-Air missiles:
- Magic 1 (wingtip)
- Magic 2 (wingtip)
- AIM-9L/M (wingtip)
- MICA ER (underwing pylon, can be combined with both of the above)
- MICA EM (underwing pylon, can be combined with wingtip mounted missiles)
- Air-to-ground weaponry:
- AM39 Exocet
- AASM (up to 4 can be mounted at the same time)
- Paveway
- Various other guided and unguided bombs. (don’t know them all nor do I know which ones Morocco had/has in service, everything that a regular F1 can carry is also compatible with this aircraft)
- Guns:
- 2x 30mm DEFA cannon. (quite unclear if they have retained 2 cannons or only have a single one left, but I’m assuming they still have both)
Place in-game
The Mirage F1EM VI is a unique and very powerful version of the Mirage F1. The new radar and MICA missiles give the F1 an incredibly large jump in abilities when it comes to air-to-air combat, while the introduction of AASM combined with a targeting pod makes it a very capable strike platform. When the times comes this vehicle could be a good option for a premium vehicle with FOX-3 missiles, or it could come as a researchable vehicle of course. I’m sure that no matter where it is introduced, it will be a valuable addition to the game.
Extra Images
