A Dassault Mirage 2000D ground attack fighter of the French Aerospace Force (Armée de l'Air et de l'Espace) crashed this morning (20) in northern Mali. The two crew , pilot and navigator/weapons systems operator, ejected and were rescued shortly afterwards, confirmed the Ministry of Armies in a press release. According to the portal Ouest , the aircraft belonged to the 3rd Fighter Squadron (3e Escadre de Chasse).
According to the Ministry, the fighter was involved in a mission “air for the benefit of a Desert Tactical Group (GTD) in the Hombori region”, when it suffered damage that required the ejection of its crew. A search and rescue group consisting of two NH90 Caiman helicopters escorted by a pair of Tiger attack helicopters, was sent “to establish a safety device and recover the crew.”
The two crew were found and taken to Gao base. One of them suffered minor injuries. “The wreckage of the plane, which crashed in an uninhabited area, was located by the Barkhane force. An investigation will be launched to clarify the origin of this accident.” According to the spokesman for the French Armed Forces, Colonel Pascal Ianni, “terrorist groups are not the cause of the problem.”
The Mirage 2000D was developed after the Mirage 2000N, a version dedicated to nuclear attack missions and already retired. Both are based on the Mirage 2000B, used in the training and formation of Mirage 2000C pilots. The aircraft can employ a range of air-to-ground weapons such as Paveway Family bombs, SCALP cruise missiles, 68mm SNEB rockets, 30mm cannon pods and Magic II short-range air-to-air missiles for self-defense. According to the survey World Air Forces 2021 of the portal Flightglobal, has 70 Mirage 2000D jets in its fleet.
