France adapts MiG-29, Su-24M to AASM Hammer, but doesn't give Ukraine Mirage 2000D yet

After an international conference on Ukraine held in Paris on February 26, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu said that his country is now focused on providing useful and effective capabilities to the warring Ukraine, according to Defense Express.

As part of this policy, France has spent its own resources and adapted MiG-29 and Su-27 aircraft to AASM Hammer guided bombs. However, they say, it is out of the question to transfer specialized Mirage 2000D strike aircraft to Ukraine. This was reported by the French portal Opex360.

However, as the publication further suggests, the French Defense Minister's "no" on the Mirage 2000D for Ukraine does not mean that Paris is completely refusing to provide Kyiv with such aircraft.

According to Lecornu, France always tries to give Ukrainians only those weapons that are currently "game-changing." And at the moment, they say, the Mirage 2000D aircraft are not such weapons, but the AASM Hammer adapted for Su-24M and MiG-29 are.

At the same time, the head of the French Defense Ministry also said that "the President always says there is no taboo," obviously hinting that if a decision is made at the level of the head of state, the Mirage 2000D strike aircraft could be sent to Ukraine.

Two other specific points can be observed. On the one hand, Lecornu made the argument that handing over the Mirage 2000D now would be very resource-intensive for all parties, thus repeating some negative points, that had already been voiced in the French press.

At the same time, the French Defense Minister emphasized that Paris usually announced its decision to send a particular type of weapon to Ukraine only when it had actually been delivered to its territory. This helped to maintain the necessary secrecy and portrayed the French as reliable partners.