over the ensuing years a further group of
pilots went to Mont-de-Marsan in 1991 to
improve their knowledge of the Mirages,
using the French ight simulators, while a
Sogitec ight and combat simulator also
arrived at La Joya.Mirages on the front line
In early 1995, the so-called Cenepa con ict
erupted between Peru and Ecuador. Ala
Aérea No 1, intended to provide defense
of the north of Peru, was equipped with
a small number of A-37s, Mirage 5P4s
and Su-22 ‘Fitter-Fs’ and ‘Fitter-Js’. The
unit immediately requested the support
of other units. At that time, Escuadrón
412 possessed only three airworthy
Mirage 2000s!The FAP splashed out $500,000 to
prepare the Mirages for battle and
eventually seven 2000Ps were deployed
to Chiclayo and Talara. They went on to
conduct day and night combat air patrols
(CAP), escort missions, reconnaissance and
bombing raids. Although bombing was
not a primary role, the Mirages performed
two missions in which they employed
500lb (227kg) Snakeye retarded bombs.
On February 10, 1995, two Mirages were
on CAP over the con ict zone when two
Ecuadorian Mirage F1EJ ghters shot
down a pair of Su-22s. The Mirage 2000s
were immediately vectored to intercept
the F1s, but when they made radar
contact, the Ecuadorian pilots saw the
‘spikes’ on their radar warning receiversFA P
MIRAGE
2000
WEAPONS
Among the Mirage 2000P/DP’s
arsenal are the internal DEFA 554
30mm guns, Matra R.550 Magic 2
air-to-air missiles, 250kg (551lb) SAMP
25FI and 500lb (227kg) Mk82 bombs,
Expal BME-330 cluster bombs, and
BAP-100 anti-runway bombs. Since
1997, the Mirages have also used the
500lb Elbit Lizard laser-guided bomb.
The aircraft can carry the Thompson-
CSF Remora and Caiman electronic
countermeasures pods, which were
added in 1998, and they also feature
the MBDA Spirale radar warning
receiver, plus 16 are and 112 cha
cartridges. ew to the Escuela de O ciales (O cers’
School) at Las Palmas Air Base, Lima, for
their o cial presentation some days later.
The rst in-country training course
began in January 1986, taking eight pilots
with experience on the Mirage 5 and Su-
22, with each receiving 100 ying hours
of tuition.
By the time the nal (12th) aircraft was
delivered in June 1987, the ‘Halcones’
included 18 pilots, and it was declared fully
operational. As the program settled downTop: The sleek
delta-wing lines
of the Mirage
2000P are shown
to great effect in
this break shot.
Peru’s Mirage
2000s retain their
original Snecma
M53-P2 engines.
Katsuhiko
Tokunaga/DACT
Above: An
elevated shot
taken during
‘Cruzex’ in 2018,
which marked
the FAP’s fi rst
international
exercise with the
Mirage.
Santiago Rivas44 August 2019 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net
FORCE REPORT // PERUVIAN MIRAGE 2000s
40-45 Peru Mirage C.indd 44 20/06/2019 22:41