The first batch of Matra's multimission Mica air-to-air missile has been dispatched to Taipei for the Taiwan Air Force's first squadron of Dassault Aviation Mirage 2000-5 combat aircraft.
Taiwan has ordered 60 Mirage 2000-5 fighters and 1,000 Mica missiles, in a multi-billion dollar deal, with a 70% cash down payment.
Taiwan Air Force pilots are already training on the first 10 Mirage 2000-5 fighters delivered this year, and will receive the others one or two months later.
As a multi-role fly-by-wire combat aircraft with particularly versatile air-to-air mission capabilities, the Mirage 2000-5, powered by a Snecma M53-P2 engine, integrates all the state-of-the-art know-how based on the experience gained from the Mirage 2000 family. This includes Mirage 2000 DA air defence and Mirage 2000 D day/night missions.
Control
Its Thomson-CSF new generation RDY look down/shoot down multi target fire control radar allows the simultaneous firing of four Mica intercept missiles and two Magic combat missiles.
This radar can also detect up to 24 targets and track them while scanning for the eight most threatening ones.
A new entrant in the world air combat field, the Mica features capabilities both for interception missions beyond the horizon, and for close combat in dogfighting manoeuvres.
Taiwan is the first to have ordered the Mirage 2000-5 aircraft, ahead of France and Qatar, and also first to receive the Mica missiles now rolling off the Matra assembly lines in France.
Production is also being initiated in the centres of Matra BAe Dynamics and its partner companies, aiming at the objective of a production rate of 50 missiles a month. The Mica has already been sold in more than 2,000 units in Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Source: Flight Daily News
