An image released on 5/1 by a Ukrainian pilot to the Volyn SOS Medical charity shows a Mirage 2000 fighter jet on combat duty in an undisclosed area. The aircraft is seen carrying a MICA medium-range air-to-air missile under its fuselage, along with auxiliary fuel tanks and Magic short-range air-to-air missiles under its wings.
The specific MICA version remains unclear, as the missile's nose is obscured. Stefano D'Urso, a writer for the aviation specialized website Aviationist, suggested it could be the MICA-EM variant, which uses an active radar seeker, based on the missile's pylon position.
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Ukraine's Mirage 2000 fighter jet carrying a MICA missile (circled in red) in an image posted on 5/1. Photo: Volyn SOS Medical |
Ukraine's Mirage 2000 fighter jet carrying a MICA missile (circled in red) in an image posted on 5/1. Photo: Volyn SOS Medical
It is unknown whether Ukraine acquired MICA missiles when it received the Mirage 2000 fleet or if they were recently supplied as aid. This marks the first time images have emerged of a Ukrainian Mirage 2000 equipped with MICA missiles; previous documentation only showed the aircraft carrying older Magic 2 short-range air-to-air missiles.
Ukraine's Ministry of Defense has not yet commented on this information.
MICA is a medium-range air-to-air missile developed by the MBDA defense group for the Rafale and Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets. Designed as a multi-role weapon, the MICA missile can engage various targets such as aircraft, cruise missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles.
MICA has two variants with different guidance mechanisms: the MICA-EM, which features an active radar seeker, and the MICA-IR, which uses an infrared imaging seeker. The missile is equipped with a solid-fuel engine and an integrated thrust vector control system, enhancing its maneuverability when approaching targets.
The missile has a range of 60-80 km, depending on launch conditions, and carries a fragmentation warhead with either a proximity fuze or an impact fuze. MICA represents a significant upgrade over the Magic 2, which has a range of only 20 km. Ukrainian media reports indicate that each MICA missile costs approximately 2,3 million USD.
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MICA IR missile in an image posted in 2016. Photo: Airforce Technology |
MICA IR missile in an image posted in 2016. Photo: Airforce Technology
The Mirage 2000 is a single-engine fighter jet developed by France's Dassault Aviation, entering service with the French air force in the 1980s.
Last year, France transferred 6 Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine. At least one of these aircraft crashed during a mission in 7/2025. The Ukrainian Air Force stated at the time that the plane was not shot down but experienced a technical malfunction, forcing the pilot to eject.
The force also previously displayed images of a Mirage 2000 painted with 6 symbols representing Russian cruise missiles, indicating the number of targets the aircraft had shot down during air defense missions.
By Pham Giang (According to Aviationist, Militarnyi)
