Delta Driver

摘要

The Dassault Mirage 2000C is one of the most beautiful combat aircraft of the past 50 years, with its delta shape and blended curves that make the 'Deux Mille' easy on the eye. In the early 1990s, the M2000 (as the Armee de I'Air often refer to it) did not have the cult status that it now enjoys - export orders were few and the Armee de I'Air was relatively slow to fully understand the aircraft's true potential.Replacing the Mirage Fl, the '2000' was a quantum leap in every respect to its predecessor. Unlike the Fl, which was universally loved by both air and groundcrews, the 2000 externally resembled the Mirage III that had enjoyed huge export success and been the backbone of the Armee I'Air for nearly two decades. While bearing similar dimensions to the last generation of Mirage Ill/V, the2000 was a totally different aircraft under the skin. Having chosen the 2000 over the larger 4000 (often described as better than the F-15), the first examples began arriving with the OCU at BA102 Dijon in 1984. Initially, the aircraft was fitted with the Thomson-CSF RDM radar, which was in essence no better than that fitted to the Mirage Fl and lacked the all-important look-down, shoot-down capability. After re-equipping the 2nd Wing at Dijon, focus turned to the 5th Wing at BA115 Orange, deep in the heart of Provence.