India’s Fighter Upgrades: Mirage 2000s Next?

India’s Fighter Upgrades: Mirage 2000s Next?

DID has covered India’s accelerating round of fighter fleet upgrades before. Now India Defence reports that the Indian Air Force is “close to finalising” a EUR 1.5 billion (about $2 billion) deal to upgrade its fleet of 52 Mirage-2000 ‘Vajra’ fighter jets. Work would be performed by a French-Indian consortium including Dassault (aircraft manufacturer), Thales (weapons systems integrator), MBDA (missiles) and India’s Hindustan Aeronautics Limited. The aim is to give the aircraft, inaugurated into IAF service in 1985-1988, another 20-25 years of service life; no word on whether any additional Mirage 2000s acquired from France would also come with a similar upgrade set.
Word is that the upgrade will include new radar, combat display, and electronic warfare systems; these will be tied into a joint tactical information data link system (JTIDS, usually Link 16 compatible but not always), along compatibility with helmet-mounted sights for off-bore-sight heat-seeking missiles and “long-range sensors.” Those sensors may involve a long range IRST system, because the aircraft will reportedly be equipped with MBDA’s Mica family of medium range missiles. As DID’s AMRAAM coverage noted, while the MICA’s radar-guided version has mediocre range, there is also a heat-seeking IR version that offers a potent short-medium range ‘no warning’ targeting option.
MBDA will probably be unamused by India Defence’s description of its wares as “an advanced medium-range missile that is the French counterpart to the more capable American AMRAAM missile.”