'Extensive disinformation': French Navy debunks Pak journalist's claim on India's Rafale losses
PTC News Desk: The French Navy on Sunday strongly dismissed the claims of Pakistani media that a French commander had confirmed Pakistan’s air superiority over India during the May 2025 clash and said that India lost Rafale jets. The Indian Navy dismissed these reports as “complete misinformation.”
Geo TV in Pakistan published a story saying that French commander Captain Jaquis Launay had backed Pakistan’s claim of dominating the air battle during Operation Sindoor. It also alleged that the Pakistan Air Force was “better prepared,” and that the loss of Rafale jets had nothing to do with the Chinese J-10C fighter’s technology.
Refuting the claim, the French Navy termed it “fake news,” saying, “These statements were attributed to Captain Launay who never gave his consent for any form of publication. The article contains extensive misinformation and disinformation”.
"The article contains extensive misinformation and disinformation," the French Navy said, asserting that Captain Launay never gave his consent for any form of publication of the statement attributed to him in the article.
Unable to match India on the battlefield, Pakistan has been trying to boost its image through false narratives. This was seen during Operation Sindoor when Islamabad quickly pushed its fake claims about downing Rafales to the foreign press.
Operation Sindoor was a major Indian military action in May, in which over 100 terrorists were eliminated across the border and the Line of Control in retaliation for the killing of tourists in the Pahalgam Terror Attack weeks earlier.
India’s armed forces said the operation was a success and that Pakistani commanders later requested an end to hostilities after suffering unexpected losses.
According to the Indian Air Chief, Indian forces shot down six Pakistani aircraft during the aerial confrontations.
- With inputs from agencies
