Air Chief Air Marshal Pervez Mehdi Qureshi told Urdu daily Jung that the sophisticated aircraft, worth $ 40 million a piece, would be flown to Pakistan this week to join the fleet of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

With their induction, PAF's fighting and defensive qualities would substantially increase, he claimed.

Another batch of 12 similar Mirage aircraft would join PAF in about 12 weeks and four more would follow early next year to complete the delivery of 40 such aircraft which would add two more squadron to the PAF.

The upgradation of these aircraft in France's Dussault factory cost $ 100,000 a piece. Mirage-III would be useful for fighting and defensive purposes while Mirage-V would be used by the Navy, the report said.

Quoting official sources, Jung also claimed that in some aspectsthese upgraded aircraft are almost equal to the recently acquired Sukhoi-30 and MIG-29 fighter jets by Indian Air Force.

The newly acquired French aircraft have been equipped with latest avionics while Mirage-V is equipped with Exocet missile which can target warships and submarines with precision, the daily said.

The aircraft were scheduled to be delivered to PAF in July last but France stopped their delivery due to the Kargil conflict and promised to deliver them only after Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif agreed to withdraw forces from Kargil heights.