Pakistan Fails In Perception Game Yet Again. French Navy Busts Their Lies

Pakistan's propaganda stands exposed once again. Struggling to create a perception that its military is better than India's, the Pakistani media didn't hold back from using fake news to claim that the May conflict reflected their air superiority. The French Navy trashed their article, leaving their bosses in Islamabad's power circles red-faced once again.

At the centre of the controversy is an article by Pakistan's Geo TV that misquoted a French naval commander as confirming that Indian Rafale fighter jets were downed during Operation Sindoor.

According to the article, Captain 'Jacques' Launay, commander of the Naval Air Base at Landivisiau, credited Pakistan's handling of the conflict situation for the achievement. Dotted with lies, the article said that the remarks were made at an international Indo-Pacific conference.

The claims turned out to be a sheer ignorance of facts. The lies were soon busted by the Marine Nationale, the naval arm of the French military.

They shared a screenshot of the article and branded it "FAKENEWS."

[#FAKENEWS] These statements were attributed to Captain Launay who never gave his consent for any form of publication.
The article contains extensive misinformation and disinformation. pic.twitter.com/crVrFFABkx

— Marine nationale (@MarineNationale) November 22, 2025

"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.

When asked about Op Sindoor, the commander neither confirmed nor denied that any Indian aircraft had been shot down, the French Navy added. He also "refused to comment on possible jamming of the Indian Rafale by Chinese systems."

What may come across as poor editing and journalistic oversight, the Navy pointed out that it carried the wrong name of the commander: "First name is Yvan, not Jacquis."

"Contrary to what has been established in the article, his responsibilities are limited to commanding the organic naval air station where the French Rafale Marine aircraft are stationed," the French Navy said.

Unable to face the Indian forces on the battlefield, Pakistan has been trying to level up its perception game. The same was seen during Op Sindoor when Islamabad was quick in communicating its false claims on downing Rafales to foreign media.

Op Sindoor was India's mega military offensive during which over a hundred terrorists were eliminated across the border and Line of Control in May, avenging the killing of innocent tourists in Pahalgam terror attack weeks earlier.

India's military affirmed the operation was successful and that Pakistani commanders pleaded to cease the hostilities after suffering unexpected damage.

During aerial combat, a total of six Pakistani aircraft were shot down by Indian forces, according to the Indian air chief.