Since Indian punitive strikes against terror camps in Pakistan in which Rafale jets were used to carry out strikes using SCALP missiles, there have been attempts to create a fake narrative that the aircraft did not perform to expectations. French sources said the intent of the campaign has been to damage the reputation of Rafale, promote competing aircraft like J10 and discredit India’s partnership with France.
Highlighting examples that have proven to be fake, sources said there is a clear pattern of misinformation originating from Pakistan and is amplified by Chinese social media actors, including tik tok videos, social media posts and flawed technical analysis.
A glaring example was attempts by Chinese social media actors and media to convey that Indonesia was rethinking plans to acquire Rafale jets from France after the Indian operation. This proved to be false after France and Indonesia signed a Letter of Intent to acquire additional Rafale jets to further bolster an order placed in 2022.
A key focus of the disinformation has been the claim that three Rafales were shot down during the operations. There has been an attempt to portray that Rafale jets did not operate after the first phase of the operation in which Pakistani terror camps were targeted.
Indian government sources told ET that both claims are bogus. They pointed out that the strikes on May 7 were carried out by a mix of fighter aircraft, including the Rafale, and all selected targets were successfully engaged, including highly protected terror headquarters at Muridke and Bahawalpur.They added in the subsequent strikes on Pakistani airbase on the night of 9-10 May, the Rafale jet was extensively used to take down high-value targets deep across the border. On Indian losses in the initial strikes on May 7, the sources pointed to the comments of the Chief of Defence Staff who said that tactical mistakes were made but lessons were quickly drawn from them to strike Pakistan hard again. Chinese origin misinformation has found its way to western platforms as well. A claim was made on May 7 on a Chinese blogging platform that France has asked India to stop using the Rafale in operations. This fake claim was transferred to western platforms like X and circulated widely.
