An upgraded Indian Air Force Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter successfully test fired a MBDA MICA air to air missile for the first time.
An upgraded Indian Air Force Dassault Mirage 2000 fighter successfully test fired a MBDA MICA air to air missile for the first time.
The new capability was added to the fighter as a part of $ 2.4 billion dollar upgrade contract signed with French Thales and Dassault in 2011.
A Mirage 2000 from IAF's 'Tiger' squadron fired the MICA missile, achieving a direct hit on a low flying target which was destroyed on impact.
MICA is a dual role missile, with both Short Range (SR) and Beyond Visual Range (BVR) capabilities replacing the MBDA Super 530 BVR and Magic II SR missiles.
The medium range missile with a range of up to 50 km, weighs 112 kg and is 3.1 meter long. It have both RF (Radio Frequency) radar homing and IR (Infra-red seeker) versions.
The fire and forget, all weather missile is highly agile and maneuverable due to the thrust vector control system.
The missile is also capable of a 360 degree launch envelope enabling to engage a target even behind the aircraft, which was demonstrated in 2007 from a French Dassault Rafale.
Under the contract to upgrade 51 Mirage fighters, the first two upgraded Mirage 2000s arrived in India in April 2015 from France.
The rest of the fleet will be upgraded in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd with complete support and extensive involvement of Dassault Aviation and Thales.
The first HAL upgraded Mirage 2000 completed maiden flight in July 2016.
Upgraded Mirages are virtually new aircraft with new Thales supplied RDY 2 radar, electronic warfare suite, mission computer, helmet mounted display and the new missile capability.
Upgraded single seat fighters are designated 2000 I while the twin seat trainers are designated 2000 TI.
