Last of the gang

摘要

The final nine Dassault Mirage 2000Cs in service with the Armee de fair et de I'espace (AAF; French Air and Space Force) were retired during a ceremony at Base aerienne 115 Orange-Caritat on June 23 in which Escadron de Chasse (EC, fighter squadron) 2/5 lle-de-France was temporarily disbanded. Maintaining the air arm's long tradition, an aircraft from each of France's fighter squadrons attended the event. During their final years of service, the Mirage 2000Cs had - in addition to their quick reaction alert role - been widely used for pilot training, with a priority being given to ensuring that Mirage 2000B instructors remained mission-ready while not posted to frontline squadrons. For this reason, the Mirage 2000Cs of EC 2/5 frequently participated in national and international exercises during 2021. The squadron began to draw down from June 2021 as there was no longer a requirement to train 2000C pilots - the last such pilot. Lieutenant Louis, who previously flew the Rafale C, had completed his training the month before. Following this, the majority of daily flights at BA115 were flown by the seven Mirage 2000B-S5s used to train future Mirage 2000D and Mirage 2000-5F pilots.