Two Mirage 2000B trainers carrying Ukrainian student pilots opened the aerial portion of France's Bastille Day parade over the Champs-Élysées on July 14, 2026 — the largest such flypast since 2019, with 98 fixed-wing aircraft and 32 helicopters taking part.
The two-seat jets, flown by French instructors with Ukrainian trainees in the rear cockpits, flew ahead of the Patrouille de France's nine Alphajets, and one of the pair carried a special livery in Ukrainian colors, according to Aerotime. The sequence was the most visible symbol of this year's parade theme, "Europe's strategic awakening," at the last July 14 parade of Emmanuel Macron's presidency.
The French lineup included more than 30 Rafales — among them seven nuclear-capable Rafale Bs of the Strategic Air Forces and 13 Rafale Marines — around a dozen Mirage 2000s, three A330 MRTT tankers, an E-3F AWACS, an E-2C Hawkeye and two Atlantique 2 maritime patrol aircraft. A multinational airlift block fielded ten A400M Atlas transports, six French alongside two British and two German, plus four C-130Js. In all, aircraft from ten European countries — Germany, the United Kingdom, Croatia, Poland, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Italy — joined the flypast, with no American participation, according to the Associated Press.
On the ground, a record 6,800 troops marched, including around 500 from the "coalition of the willing" countries that have pledged post-war security support for Ukraine, and Ukrainian soldiers paraded down the avenue. Some 30 heads of state and government attended, among them Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Macron said it was a "great honor" to welcome partners who would "march with us and illustrate its strategic reawakening and our unity."
The display was roughly 50 percent larger than the 65-aircraft flypast of 2025, and came a day after Macron announced an additional 36 billion euros for French defense through 2030 and a roadmap for Ukraine to acquire 16 Rafale fighters. According to GlobalMilitary.net data, the Ukrainian Air Force already operates six Mirage 2000-5Fs transferred by France, alongside around 31 F-16s.
Training of Ukrainian pilots in France is set to expand in the coming months under the new Franco-Ukrainian roadmap, with Kyiv's first Rafales expected from 2028.
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