2000AT

Dassault has revealed that it is proposing to it´s customers an advanced trainer which would effectively combine the Mirage 2000B with elements of the Mirage 2000-5 MkII. Dubbed the 2000AT the proposed Advanced Trainer will faithfully replicate the performance and flight envelope to a degree not possible with current or planned advanced trainers. Removal of non-training relevant systems will, according to Dassault, reduce the unit price of the AT by some 20% when compared to a 2000-5MkII. Dassault concede that the AT will still be expensive compared with current and planned advanced trainers but counter this with the argument that the AT will initially only be offered to existing Mirage 2000 operators, in particular those with larger fleets such as France, UAE, India and perhaps Greece.
Dassault also counter the higher unit cost by pointing to cost-saving factors such as:

Reduced spares holdings due to high commonality with the frontline type.
Reduced retraining of groundcrew.
No new investment of ground handling equipment.
No need to invest in new simulators.

A further advantage of the AT is that the need for student pilots to train in the frontline type will be significantly reduced, thus allowing more frontline fighters to be available for operations every day. The benign yet highly responsive handling characteristics of the Mirage 2000 should make the AT a highly viable advanced trainer.
The AT embodies the Dassault philosophy that a student pilot aspiring to be a fighter pilot has to train in a fighter.