Indian Air Force's Mirage 2000H upgrade programme delayed

The contract for the upgrade of 51 Mirage 2000s was signed in 2011. Sources say only about 50% upgrade has been completed & the programme will take another 2-3 years to finish. The nearly USD 2.5 billion plan to upgrade India’s Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft by the end of 2021 is set to miss the deadline, with only half of them having completed the process till now. 

The mega contract for the upgrade of 51 Mirage 2000s, which were used during the Balakot air strikes, was signed in 2011, and the idea was to bring the aircraft, bought between 1982-1985, up to date and give them better firepower, new sensors, latest electronic warfare systems and a life-extension. As part of the plan, Dassault Aviation, the original French manufacturer of the Mirage, was to upgrade two aircraft in France and then two more in India, at the Bengaluru facility of the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL). The rest were to be upgraded by the HAL under transfer of technology. The upgrade includes a new mission computer with higher memory, new radar, advanced navigation and electronic warfare systems, advanced communication and identification systems. 

The upgraded aircraft are also supposed to undergo a massive upgrade of the cockpit, with two lateral displays, glass cockpits, and helmet-mounted displays. As of today, only about 50 per cent of the upgrades have been completed, sources in the defence and security establishment said, adding that the programme will take another 2-3 years to finish. According to the plan, the first 16 aircraft, including the four manufactured by Dassault Aviation with help from Thales, were to be delivered with Initial Operational Clearance (IOC) status. The remaining 35 were to come with Final Operational Clearance (FOC) status. HAL sources said a fatal accident in February 2019 involving an upgraded Mirage during a test flight, and the subsequent Covid-19 pandemic led to the delay. 

The sources added the IAF delayed the delivery of overhauled engines and certain other systems, contributing to the delay. The IAF, meanwhile, says there were issues with the FOC variant, as they were not fully satisfied with certain integration of new systems. Incidentally, the maiden flight of the first upgraded Mirage 2000 was completed successfully by Dassault Aviation on 5 October 2013, following a two-year development phase. This phase included integration of new systems provided by Thales, including the radar, the electronic warfare suite and the mission computer. The IAF had formally accepted the first two upgraded Mirage 2000 I/TI in 2015. 

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