combat aircraft

replaced by the Airbus A330 Phoenix.

They are also lighter than the C-135FRs

and consume less fuel, allowing for a

greater payload to be hauled aloft

at Niamey.

Fighter force

The sharp end of the Niamey operation is

the  ghter force, which consists of two

Dassault Mirage 2000Ds and two 2000Cs.

While the Mirage 2000Ds are what you’d

expect to  nd here, with close air support

(CAS) being a key mission, the Mirage

2000Cs are remarkable. Present during the

visit were two examples from EC 2/5 ‘Ile de

France’ based in Orange in southern

France. These interceptors were obsolete

in the air-to-air combat role with the

advent of the Rafale, but the ‘Barkhane’

mission has provided them with a new

lease of life thanks to the type’s latent

air-to-ground capability. Consequently,

the deployed 2000Cs make good use of

their two 30mm cannon and pairs of

GBU-12 Paveway II bombs on

AUF-2 pylons.

‘Two months before the departure to

Niamey, the manning is done,’ explains

the detachment commander of the

Mirage 2000D team. ‘Crew and

maintainers are identi ed [and] we then

take advantage of the few weeks we have

left to warm up together with [the Mirage

2000Cs] for air-to-ground missions. We

brief together over the phone and then

join in  ight over the training area to

work our show of force and ground

attack missions with JTACs [joint terminal

attack controllers] on the ground.

‘In Niamey we have three crews for the

2000D and three pilots for the 2000C. We

then form three teams, each time

associating a 2000C pilot and a 2000D

crew [pilot and navigator/weapons

systems o cer]. We are careful to mix the

di erent level of experience within each

team — for example, we will pair a young

[2000D] pilot from Nancy with a [Mirage

2000C] pilot who already has good theater

experience. The 2000D pilot will also be

teamed with a seasoned navigator. Most

of the time, these pairs  y together for the

duration of the detachment.’

The 2000Ds work with PDL-CTS

(thermal camera laser designation) and

Atlis laser designator pods. The latter is

only for planned daytime operations but

gives excellent image quality. The

PDL-CTS has a night capability but

represents somewhat limited 1990s

technology. Interestingly, with a

Left: The main

ramp at Niamey

hosts Transalls,

A400Ms on

resupply and a

KC-135R tanker.

Below: An A400M

arrives from

France on one of

the regular fl ights

from home.

COMBAT REPORT // OPERATION ‘BARKHANE’

86 September 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

82-89 Niamey C.indd 86 20/07/2018 11:32