DCS World third party developer RAZBAM has made a few waves since they secured a relationship with the Armée de l’Air (AdA). The AdA was using their M-2000C module on DCS World for cheaper high availability training and has had input into making the jet more realistic. Now word is that the partnership will open the door to other aircraft including the 2000-5 and maybe even the Rafael.
What have we learned?
RAZBAM shared a video to a post by the AdA talking about how they are using tools such as DCS World and the Mirage for training their pilots. The video is in french but I was able to drag out enough of my French language skills to read the subtitles and gather that they are pleased with the model put in place by one of their squadrons and now they want to expand.
The 2000-5 variant of the Mirage delta wing fighter seems like a near certainty with a slightly less certain 2020 release date. The AdA is also keen to maintain the current model so that a consumer level product is also developed.
Apparently they are also thinking about the Rafale which, if done, would likely come quite a ways down the road. With the greatest issue being licensing and access to information, it seems logical that RAZBAM could potentially access needed information doled out by the AdA in an official capacity – no doubt with an air to secrecy and security in place.
There’s a lot of questions and unknowns but this is certainly an interesting development.
What would the Mirage 2000-5 bring to the table?
The M-2000C is a hot little fighter but it has some key deficits when it fights against the other 4th gen fighters in DCS World. The -5 would rectify a number of them with things like added Link 16 datalink support and the introduction of the MICA IR and Radar guided missiles. MICA is a seriously impressive missile and the -5 can carry 6 of them along with three fuel tanks.
With greater range and active radar (or IR) capability, the MICA is far in advance of the Super 530D and Magic missiles that the 2000-C can carry. The Mirage 2000 would become a more capable contender.
There are no doubt other differences and changes to things like the cockpit but this gives a sense of how the Mirage 2000-5 would shake things up for DCS World combat scenarios and give fans of the Mirage quite a capable platform.
I hope we see it someday!
Update from Decoy
RAZBAM’s Decoy has been active on the company’s Discord channel and wrote a few updates from the team:
We haven’t stated the 2000-5 is for ada!
That’s a rumour I would ignore TBH 😉We still want to create a -5. But at the moment guys we wont to finish the modules we have out hence why we have Leonardo here….to help zues with the coding
Decoy on the RAZBAM Discord
Though not an outright dismissal it does suggest that RAZBAM’s focus in the near term is still on developing their current modules. That doesn’t discount what we’re learning above nor what the team has been teasing but it does show that their communications for now and a lot of effort is still being put into their current slate of modules – something they have been criticized for in the past.
Decoy also mentions that the new re-textured and rejuvenated M2000C cockpit will be breaking cover in one of their next updates. Their re-textured AV-8B cockpit was an incredible step forward for that module and I hope for the same with the Mirage.
Stormbirds 
It’s Rafale, not Rafael. Silly French
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My spell-check does that to me as well. AFAIK, the Rafale has no Rafael parts on it.
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Gets me every time 🙂
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There may be a Raphaël (or even Rafaël) inside the plane though 😉
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Translation of the interesting bits:
Lt Pappalardo – bits of South and warmth in this name 😉 says that due to the complexity of the missions and the equipment they deal with, they need to go through simulation to complement the real practice. The simulation must be conform, today they have tools for the initial training and the accurate modelisation of systems, but they still lack the simulation of group missions (“multiplayer” for us), with a large number of actors / roles. To remedy this, the Armée de l’Air has set out to prepare tomorrow’s intense combat with MMO simulation.
The military aeronautical expertise center at Mont-de-Marsan, together with fighter squadron 2/5 Ile-de-France at Orange, asked the Innovation Defense Lab to help them in that endeavour. To achieve this goal, the IDL will buy 3 solutions: human-machine interfaces and commands (joysticks and so on), a set of the current army aircraft so that the environment is conform to the actual missions, and finally a user-controllable Mirage 2000-5 to extend the capacity to other squadrons.
Today the army only uses MMO simulation of one module, the M-2000C (the model they have at the Orange base), which is not enough to get a large number of actors, and with the help of IDL, they hope to get the 2000-5 as soon as 2020, and maybe other types of Mirage 2000s. In mid-term, they also wish to get the Rafale, transport (? he’s misusing French/English words there), the A330 MRTT Phénix, and all air army entities to benefit entirely from the networked simulation.
End of this summer, different significant aircraft will be delivered (I understand those are figurative models). Then the interface products will be delivered end of the year, and *finally the 2000-5 end of summer 2020*. The army will then be able to deploy those tools across its airbases for training.
No mention of Razbam, or whether they plan to actually finish their other products first :p
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Thanks for the translation, very interesting.
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Nah: Dassault supply-chain is about 99% French. No way they’d get an Italian High Renaissance dude in there.
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LOL … fixed 😀
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Thanks for the translation! Your French is better than mine no doubt 🙂 (despite years of education)
Though RAZBAM isn’t mentioned RAZBAM has said that they are working on a Mirage 2000-5 with the AdA (as recently as last week on their Discord – I should have mentioned this) and they shared this video as something “interesting” so I would hazard a guess that they are involved.
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I’m French, so it’s easy for me 😀 It’s a very tricky language so I admire those who go through the trouble of studying it when it’s not their native language, really!
Yeah, but I’m sure they’d love a mention of their work from one of those guys, it would be good publicity for them 🙂
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Rafale would be a major, major effort and I’m not sure how much the French could cooperate on that. Saab are cagey about a Gripen for the same reason.
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I’d love to see some more Mirage versions like the III-series, the F1 etc. – BUT, if we would get the Rafale, oh man, that would be absolutely brain melting and only to think about it, drives me nuts!!!
Only imagine having a Rafale in DCS! What a wonderful idea – wow.
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The problem is having a current generation fighter. Even the Viper Block 50 is quite old and not offered as a new export by LM. Dassault, therefore, would be understandably reluctant to give away too much detail on the Rafale as it is their newest toy.
I would therefore doubt that we would see a Rafale as an up-to-date example is too restricted and an older but less effective model would look bad.
Like I said, Saab were apparently disinclined to cooperate on the Gripen for exactly this reason. But maybe time will tell.
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Definitely an issue and its hard to say where this will go or how quickly it might. If we do get a Rafale it will surely be an older generation. Some Rafale’s were around prior to 2001 and the first flight was in the 80s so hopefully something mid 2000s similar to the Hornet and Viper would be possible.
There’s so much we don’t know about it so lots of conjecture and wishful thinking for now. Still, it’d be interesting.
A more capable M-2000 would be wonderful to have in the meantime.
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