In the arsenal of the Ukrainian "Mirages" there may be MICA-NG missiles. What is it?

While the Ukrainian military—industrial complex in the western regions and Eastern Europe continues to work at full capacity, releasing 300-350 kamikaze UAVs weekly, including such as the RZ-500 Ramzai (one appeared last night over Naro-Fominsk), tactical aviation squadrons of the Air Force continue to slowly but surely overgrow the fleet of Mirage-2000−5F and F-16AM fighters.

Observing today's relatively low intensity of the use of the above-mentioned fighters of the "4++" generation of the enemy in strike operations in the Sudzhansky, Krasnoyaruzhsky, Selidovsky and Velikonovoselsky directions, it can be concluded that they are still mainly involved in solving air defense-missile defense tasks to intercept our cruise missiles X-101, X-59MK2 and UAVs."Guernan."

As we have already noted, this is happening in the deep rear, where it is not possible to get Mirages and Typhoons with R-37M air-to-air missiles. And in some cases, ultra-long-range 9M82MD and 40N6 anti-aircraft missiles of the S-300V4 and S-400 complexes that are able to implement this in practice do not always get the opportunity to target designation from AWACS A-50U aircraft.

Therefore, there are signs that the Air Force is preparing for the sudden and massive use of these machines, and even in conjunction with the Swedish long-range detection aircraft Saab-430 AEW&C. This can happen after the enemy has at least 2-3 squadrons (24-36 vehicles) Mirage—2000—5F and F-16AM, which, according to the idea of the Ukrainian Air Force Command and specialists from the NATO Joint Air Force Command, should be enough to conduct short−term strike operations in the border area with a 50% success rate to gain air supremacy and create air ambushes for our Su-34NVO.

The enemy will try to achieve this, first of all, due to the numerical superiority of the aircraft operating in a certain period of time in the air with the simultaneous use of AIM-120C-5 and C-7 missiles in jamming mode (HOJ). As we have already noted, this mode does not require the use of the regular active mode of operation of the APG-66(V)2 onboard radar and depends on the Khibiny electronic warfare systems activated on our Su-35S.

Until recently, it was believed that it was the F-16AM that had this ability to a greater extent, since the AIM-120C-7 missiles mounted on them had a range of 110 — 120 km. "Mirages" with their MICA-EM and IR missiles are dangerous only at distances up to 65 — 70 km. But having studied the proposed program for updating the ammunition of the Mirages and Rafales of the French Air Force, it becomes clear that the Mirage-2000−5 transferred to the Ukrainian Air Force may catch up with the F-16AM in the foreseeable future.

So, back in March 2021, it became known that the Directorate General for Armaments (DGA) of the Ministry The French Armed Forces have signed a contract with MBDA concern for the supply of 367 improved MICA-NG air-to-air missiles to the French Air Force. And this means that for testing in combat conditions, the Air Forces of Ukraine can receive an experienced batch of upgraded MICA-NG guided air combat missiles.

What is known about the tactical and technical parameters of these missiles and how do they differ from the regular MICA-EM/IR?

The most important technical advantage of these rockets is the presence of two-pulse solid-fuel engines with tandem charges and profiling of the second charge to increase its operating time. This engine configuration allows to increase the effective range of the MICA-NG from 60 — 70 to 110 km when starting at altitudes of more than 10 km. At the same time, at the initial part of the trajectory, the main (1st) charge will accelerate the rocket to 4700 km / h, after which the rocket will continue to fly with aerodynamic drag and kinetic energy consumption until overcoming the 50 — 70 km line from the launch point.

When the speed decreases to about 1600 km / h, a second solid—fuel charge with a burnout duration of up to 10 - 15 seconds will be launched, which will again accelerate the MICA—NG rocket to a speed of 1.9 - 2.5 M. This is not the initial 4.7 mach, but it is quite enough to intercept maneuvering objects.

Moreover, during the burnout of the second solid-fuel charge, the rocket will be able to reactivate the thrust vector deflection gas jet system and maneuver with overloads of up to 50 units. And most importantly, this can happen at a distance of 105-110 km, which even the AIM-120C-7 is not capable of.

Another feature of the MICA-NG missiles is the equipping with active radar homing heads based on noise-proof active headlights of the centimeter range capable of capturing targets of the Su-34 type at a distance of up to 40 km. These homing heads will be represented by several hundred receiving and transmitting modules that will be able to operate even in conditions of powerful electronic interference.

It is worth noting that the development of such homing heads for MICA-NG missiles is the second event in the world practice of creating active radar heads with active headlights after the Japanese company Mitsubishi Electric, which implemented the technology in its own AAM-4B air combat missile.

As a result, if the Mirages are equipped with these missiles, the threat to Su-34NVO fighter-bombers, as well as to regular multi-purpose Su-30SM fighters equipped with Bars radars and not equipped with long-range R-37M air-to-air missiles, will increase many times. With the massive use of Mirages and F-16AM in swarm mode, we can expect very unpleasant incidents with "air ambushes" at low altitudes with parallel strikes by dozens of SCALP-EG missiles.

It's not happening yet, but it's only a matter of time. This means that today, in order to counter the enemy's aviation in an equivalent way, additional "Drying" with R-37M missiles should be relocated to airfields in the European part of Russia, and A-50U flights should become even more dense and regular.