The ultimate development of the Mirage series of aircraft is the Dassault-Breguet Mirage 2000. This fourth-generation fighter, similar in role and capability as the F-16, features the traditional delta-wing configuration of the Mirage III/5 but the resemblance is only skin-deep as the Mirage 2000 is equipped with modern avionics like the RDI Doppler radar, a highly maneuverable fly-by-wire control system, HOTAS controls, a new and more powerful M53 engine, as well as the ability to carry a wide variety of air-to-air and air-to-ground ordinance. As with most French aircraft, it can be equipped with a removable refueling probe. A tandem-seat combat-capable trainer was designed alongside the single-seat version and it became the basis for subsequent strike variants, the Mirage 2000N tactical nuclear bomber and the Mirage 2000D conventional attack aircraft which can carry laser-guided bombs and stand-off missiles. The Mirage 2000 was first used in combat during the Gulf War, mostly in combat air patrol (CAP) missions and did not participate in any air-to-air engagements. The strike variants were first used in the Bosnia and Kosovo operations, serving later in Afghanistan and the more recent interventions in Libya and Syria. It has also met with notable export success serving in the air forces of the UAE, Brazil, Egypt, Greece, India, Peru, Taiwan and Qatar. Both Greece and India have used it in combat: in one notable engagement, one Greek aircraft downed a Turkish F-16 in 1996, the only time a F-16 has been defeated by an opposing aircraft. Mirage 2000s have been gradually improved in order to avoid falling behind the newer blocks of the F-16 and can still hold their own against other fourth generation aircraft. In French service, however, fighter variants have now been mostly replaced by the Rafale although strike variants remain in widespread service.

First flown in prototype form on 10 March 1978, the Mirage 2000 entered service in 1982 as the Mirage 2000C. This is the basic fighter variant which features secondary but considerable ground-attack capability. It was subsequently improved as the Mirage 2000-5F with more advanced avionics, a modern glass cockpit, HOTAS controls and larger drop tanks (most remaining fighter versions in French service have been upgraded to this standard or the further upgraded Mirage 2000-5 Mk. 2). Other variants include the Mirage 2000E for export, the Mirage 2000ED two-seater and the Mirage 2000R for reconnaissance. Subsequent upgrades have given these aircraft improved cockpits and avionics. The multi-role variants are complemented by the Mirage 2000N, a dedicated low-level strike platform featuring a rear cockpit adapted for a weapons systems officer, a terrain following Antilope 5 radar in addition to other defensive avionics, and the ability to carry the ASMP nuclear stand-off missile. The Mirage 2000D is another more conventional bomber version, equipped with the latest French laser-guided weaponry but without the nuclear capability of the Mirage 2000N. Finally, a two-seater combat-capable trainer is known as the Mirage 2000B. Export versions are given local suffixes and are based on the Mirage 2000E (multi-role) as well as a day/night reconnaissance version known as the Mirage 2000R. An export version of the -5F for the UAE is designated Mirage 2000-9.