October 1, 2009:
As Venezuela reequips its air force with Russian jets (Su-30s) it can get rid of some of the older aircraft it has. So it is giving Ecuador six elderly Mirage 50s, a ground attack version of the 1960s era French Mirage fighter. Ecuador already has about ten Mirage F1s, a 1970s upgrade that is optimized for air combat. The Venezuelan Mirage 50s are actually upgrades of older Mirage IIIs and Mirage 5s, built in the late 1960s, and upgraded to Mirage 50 standards in 1990. So these Mirage 50s have a few good years left in them, if well taken care of. The Mirage 50 is a 13 ton aircraft that can carry about four tons of weapons.