GoMig-21
Elite Member
Mesh momken el 7alawa de!
"Grey shadows": The mysterious Egyptian Mirage 2000EM/BM
The Mirage (2000EM/BM) of Egypt (M from Al Misr, the name of the country in Arabic, hence "in Missiri", "Misirlu", etc.), is an extremely rare sight, and even more so outside the country. This is despite Egypt being the first export customer for the now legendary new generation delta wing of the French, contracting already in December 1981, almost three years before the type became operational with the French Air Force! While their traditions began in 1986, two years before those of Greek.
The size of the contract, $890 million for 20 aircraft at 1981 prices (while Greece gave $1.38 billion for 40 aircraft at 1985 prices), is an indication of the extraordinarily rich electronic equipment and armament it included.
Interestingly, these aircraft (including 4 two-seaters) are guarded for some reason like the Holy Grail. As it seems, even after the Camp David agreements, Egypt (as well as Greece after the events of November 1967 in Cyprus) considered that a basic diversification of weapons sources was necessary, all the more so since the US has not released critical weapons for Egypt's F-16s to date.
Until the advent of the Rafale/MiG-29M2 they were the only aircraft in Egypt with intermediate-range AAM missiles (Matra Super 530D with Thomson-CSF RDM+ radar deployment), plus of course the Matra Magic-2.
Furthermore, they were from the beginning perfectly equipped with:
a) shock pods with laser Thomson/CSF ATLIS II,
b) laser guided Matra BGL bombs,
c) laser-guided hypersonic air-to-ground missiles AS.30L (range about 10 km, extremely precise and powerful explosive warhead),
d) Matra ARMAT (anti-radar missile of huge range, well over 100 km, but subsonic) and generally unique weapons for the Egyptian arsenal.
Legend has it that highly advanced jammers and RWRs exist, with no reliable press information. It is recalled that the first generation Mirage 2000EAD/DAD/RAD of the United Arab Emirates, another country in the region that received Mirage 2000, carried not the complete and highly effective ICMS Mk. 1 (also used by the Air Force) but a sur measure combination of distributor of Spirale consumables, internal jammers ELT/558 of Italian Elettronica and RWR ELT/158 also of Elettronica, which was published in reputable media in 2003 as providing precision sighting capable of genuine SEAD missions.
Given that Egypt was the first to introduce Italian electronic warfare systems in the Middle East, the Selenia ALQ-234 jamming pods with Mirage 5 carrier, which it even lent to Iraq during the war with Iran with excellent results (full jamming of MIM-23B I-HAWK anti-aircraft missiles), it would be surprising if Egypt did not take advantage of this purely Arab-inspired and Italian-executed self-protection solution (and not only).
I think it's pretty safe to say now that we have the information in the above underlined portion that it's pretty clear who took out the Turkish MIM-HAWK AAM batteries in Libya during the standoff with Turkey and Sisi's "Red Line"! There was speculation that it might've been the UAE because they had a few Mirages stationed in Marsa Matruh, but this is pretty clear that it was the EAF's Mirage 2000s and one of the reasons why they guard these aircraft from prying eyes with all their might.
On the other hand, visually the impression is given of a French Serval unit on the vertical tail fixed, above which there is an unknown additional antenna facing backwards. The above operational capabilities of the Egyptian -2000EM were, taken together, unprecedented for the region, at least during the first years of press service.
The aircraft, painted in two-tone gray with inconspicuous separation, and with the typical black dielectric radar cone carried by the first export aircraft of the type, have served with the same fate for almost 36 years: the 82nd, formally in an air defense role, but in reality in every conceivable role, as evidenced by the extensive arsenal of the type.
Finally, it is not known if they were ever upgraded, even rudimentarily, with a new RLG INS, monitors, etc. Any potential losses are also not known. Thus, the Mirage 2000 service in Egypt is still shrouded in secrecy and an aura of elitism.
Source. And further down in this page is a terrific technical discussion on the Libyan raid by these Mirages and what the author of this article (Nicholas from Greece) opines different theories and possibilities. Suffice it to say that even a raid like that which appears simple on the outside is frought with dangers and complications from SEADs to SAM threats to EW spoofing and GPS guided standoff munitions which would've made the SCALP EG a perfect weapon to use in that instance so was it EAF Rafales then? He says most likely not since they hadn't reached total IOC with the EAF at the time of the raid which then brings in the possibility of the UAE Mirages and so on. Terrific read if anyone is interested in those details. But goes to show that the way the EAF stays quiet about its missions and tactics is a testament to how dangerous and potent it is and is capable of conducting broader and deadlier missions in the region. The mention of the EAF Mirages in the Iraq/Iran war also had tremendous successed. Good stuff.
"Grey shadows": The mysterious Egyptian Mirage 2000EM/BM
The Mirage (2000EM/BM) of Egypt (M from Al Misr, the name of the country in Arabic, hence "in Missiri", "Misirlu", etc.), is an extremely rare sight, and even more so outside the country. This is despite Egypt being the first export customer for the now legendary new generation delta wing of the French, contracting already in December 1981, almost three years before the type became operational with the French Air Force! While their traditions began in 1986, two years before those of Greek.
The size of the contract, $890 million for 20 aircraft at 1981 prices (while Greece gave $1.38 billion for 40 aircraft at 1985 prices), is an indication of the extraordinarily rich electronic equipment and armament it included.
Interestingly, these aircraft (including 4 two-seaters) are guarded for some reason like the Holy Grail. As it seems, even after the Camp David agreements, Egypt (as well as Greece after the events of November 1967 in Cyprus) considered that a basic diversification of weapons sources was necessary, all the more so since the US has not released critical weapons for Egypt's F-16s to date.
Until the advent of the Rafale/MiG-29M2 they were the only aircraft in Egypt with intermediate-range AAM missiles (Matra Super 530D with Thomson-CSF RDM+ radar deployment), plus of course the Matra Magic-2.
Furthermore, they were from the beginning perfectly equipped with:
a) shock pods with laser Thomson/CSF ATLIS II,
b) laser guided Matra BGL bombs,
c) laser-guided hypersonic air-to-ground missiles AS.30L (range about 10 km, extremely precise and powerful explosive warhead),
d) Matra ARMAT (anti-radar missile of huge range, well over 100 km, but subsonic) and generally unique weapons for the Egyptian arsenal.
Legend has it that highly advanced jammers and RWRs exist, with no reliable press information. It is recalled that the first generation Mirage 2000EAD/DAD/RAD of the United Arab Emirates, another country in the region that received Mirage 2000, carried not the complete and highly effective ICMS Mk. 1 (also used by the Air Force) but a sur measure combination of distributor of Spirale consumables, internal jammers ELT/558 of Italian Elettronica and RWR ELT/158 also of Elettronica, which was published in reputable media in 2003 as providing precision sighting capable of genuine SEAD missions.
Given that Egypt was the first to introduce Italian electronic warfare systems in the Middle East, the Selenia ALQ-234 jamming pods with Mirage 5 carrier, which it even lent to Iraq during the war with Iran with excellent results (full jamming of MIM-23B I-HAWK anti-aircraft missiles), it would be surprising if Egypt did not take advantage of this purely Arab-inspired and Italian-executed self-protection solution (and not only).
I think it's pretty safe to say now that we have the information in the above underlined portion that it's pretty clear who took out the Turkish MIM-HAWK AAM batteries in Libya during the standoff with Turkey and Sisi's "Red Line"! There was speculation that it might've been the UAE because they had a few Mirages stationed in Marsa Matruh, but this is pretty clear that it was the EAF's Mirage 2000s and one of the reasons why they guard these aircraft from prying eyes with all their might.
On the other hand, visually the impression is given of a French Serval unit on the vertical tail fixed, above which there is an unknown additional antenna facing backwards. The above operational capabilities of the Egyptian -2000EM were, taken together, unprecedented for the region, at least during the first years of press service.
The aircraft, painted in two-tone gray with inconspicuous separation, and with the typical black dielectric radar cone carried by the first export aircraft of the type, have served with the same fate for almost 36 years: the 82nd, formally in an air defense role, but in reality in every conceivable role, as evidenced by the extensive arsenal of the type.
Finally, it is not known if they were ever upgraded, even rudimentarily, with a new RLG INS, monitors, etc. Any potential losses are also not known. Thus, the Mirage 2000 service in Egypt is still shrouded in secrecy and an aura of elitism.
Source. And further down in this page is a terrific technical discussion on the Libyan raid by these Mirages and what the author of this article (Nicholas from Greece) opines different theories and possibilities. Suffice it to say that even a raid like that which appears simple on the outside is frought with dangers and complications from SEADs to SAM threats to EW spoofing and GPS guided standoff munitions which would've made the SCALP EG a perfect weapon to use in that instance so was it EAF Rafales then? He says most likely not since they hadn't reached total IOC with the EAF at the time of the raid which then brings in the possibility of the UAE Mirages and so on. Terrific read if anyone is interested in those details. But goes to show that the way the EAF stays quiet about its missions and tactics is a testament to how dangerous and potent it is and is capable of conducting broader and deadlier missions in the region. The mention of the EAF Mirages in the Iraq/Iran war also had tremendous successed. Good stuff.
That would be quite interesting to see.
