France Hypairion program to test AI-enabled loyal wingman with Mirage 2000 beds

France’s Air Force/DGA/Amiad are launching Hypairion to experiment with sovereign, government-owned AI and open modular avionics for manned-unmanned teaming, aiming for a crewed fighter plus combat-drone flight in 2028. Two Mirage 2000s are being modified as AI testbeds with new onboard computing to trial mission autonomy and decision-support use cases (e.g., flight-path and weapon-employment optimization), with implications for Rafale F4/F5 openness and rapid software updates.