The Dassault Mirage 2000, known as Vajra (Sanskrit for Thunderbolt) in Indian service, is the primary multirole fighter, the IAF currently operates 49 Mirage 2000Hs which are currently being upgraded to the Mirage 2000-5 MK2 standard.
Dassault had been working on other fighter options in the meantime, partly because the export potential of the ACF was not promising. These alternatives were smaller, simpler, and cheaper than the ACF, and took the form of a number of "Mini-Mirage (Mimi)" concepts. These concepts congealed into an aircraft known at first as the "Super Mirage III", then the "Delta 1000", "Delta 2000", "Super Mirage 2000", and finally just "Mirage 2000".
Mirage 2000 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| A Mirage 2000C of the French Air Force | |
| Role | Multirole fighter |
| National origin | France |
| Manufacturer | Dassault Aviation |
| First flight | 10 March 1978[1] |
| Introduction | November 1982[2] |
| Status | In service |
| Primary users | French Air Force Indian Air Force United Arab Emirates Air Force Republic of China Air Force |
| Produced | 1978–2007 |
| Number built | 601 |
| Unit cost | US$23 million |
| Developed from | Dassault Mirage III |
| Variants | Dassault Mirage 2000N/2000D Dassault Mirage 4000 |
Also Read:
2) Indian Air Force Spearhead | Mirage 2000