China Tried to Sabotage Rafale Jet Sales After India-Pak Clash: Report
China orchestrated a widespread disinformation campaign targeting the French-made Rafale fighter jet, actively using its diplomatic missions to derail sales after the aircraft was deployed by the Indian Air Force during “Operation Sindoor” against Pakistan, a new report by The Associated Press has revealed, citing French military and intelligence officials.
The coordinated effort aimed to tarnish the reputation of the advanced combat jet, with Chinese defence attachés in embassies worldwide lobbying countries to cancel their Rafale orders and opt for Chinese-manufactured aircraft instead.
This revelation comes months after Pakistan, a close ally of China, claimed to have shot down three Rafale jets during the four-day military engagement with India. Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the Rafale, and Indian officials have vehemently denied these claims.
India’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Anil Chauhan, recently acknowledged for the first time that an unspecified number of Indian fighter jets were downed during the hostilities but stated that Pakistan’s claims of shooting down a Rafale were “absolutely incorrect.”
According to the French intelligence assessment cited by AP, Chinese embassy officials actively promoted the narrative of the Rafale’s poor performance in meetings with defence and security personnel of other nations. Their lobbying efforts were reportedly focused on countries that have already purchased the Rafale and other potential customers. French officials became aware of these meetings through the nations that were approached.
The disinformation campaign was not limited to diplomatic circles. French military officials detailed a sophisticated online operation involving viral social media posts, manipulated images claiming to show Rafale debris, AI-generated content, and even video game footage passed off as real combat. Researchers identified over 1,000 newly created social media accounts that spread a narrative of Chinese technological superiority as the India-Pakistan conflict unfolded.
France’s Defence Ministry has officially acknowledged the campaign, stating on its website that the Rafale was targeted to “promote the superiority of alternative equipment, notably of Chinese design.” The ministry views the attack on the aircraft as an attempt to undermine “the credibility of France and its defence industrial and technological base.”
“By attacking the aircraft, certain actors sought to undermine… a national image of strategic autonomy, industrial reliability, and solid partnerships,” the French Defence Ministry added.
Dassault Aviation has successfully exported the Rafale to several countries, including Egypt, Qatar, Greece, the United Arab Emirates, and Indonesia, in addition to India’s 36 jets.
Justin Bronk, an airpower specialist at the London-based think-tank Royal United Services Institute, suggested that China’s motive could be to weaken France’s growing security relationships in the Indo-Pacific. “It would make sense for China to be using the performance of Pakistani weapons systems – or at least purported performance… as a tool to undermine its attractiveness as an export,” Bronk told the AP.
