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The French Air Force has deployed the Dassault Mirage 2000D to East Africa, the first deployment since the service declared the midlife upgrade operational in April.

Two of the Mirage 2000Ds have arrived at the French operating base at Djibouti’s Ambouli International Airport, where they will be used alongside Mirage 2000-5Fs in the defense of Djibouti, its airspace and territorial waters.

Missions for the Mirages include what the French Air Force calls SuCAP—Surface Close Air Protection—as well as air policing and securing supply routes and freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Fifty of the French Air Force’s Mirage twin-seat ground attack aircraft are receiving the -D midlife upgrade configuration. The upgrade adds a 30mm cannon for close air support and integrates a range of weapons including Mica IR air-to-air missiles for self defense, replacing the Matra/MBDA Magic 2. It also adds the ability to drop precision-guided weapons including the GBU-48 and GBU-50 laser-guided bombs. Mirage 2000D pilots will fly in a new glass cockpit with digital screens to provide improved situational awareness through data links.

According to the service, the arrival of the 2000D “adds a new operational capability” and will “increase the speed of intervention to respond to threats emerging in this strategic zone.”

Djibouti is now the only major French operational military base in Africa. France no longer has a military footprint in Mali, Burkina Faso or Niger, and only a token presence in Gabon and Côte d'Ivoire.

Earlier this year, Djibouti and France ratified an updated Treaty of Defense Cooperation, extending France’s presence in the country for the next 20 years.