- A U.S. government report has alleged that China launched a targeted disinformation campaign to undermine French Rafale fighter aircraft sales in the aftermath of ‘Operation Sindoor’ in May 2025.
- The Commission notes that China sought to ‘hinder sales of French Rafale aircraft in favour of its own J-35s,’ relying heavily on artificial intelligence tools and coordinated inauthentic behaviour.
- The Commission says these actions are part of China’s broader “gray zone” strategy that uses cyberattacks, economic pressure, disinformation, and covert influence to gain advantage without open conflict.
A U.S. government report has alleged that China launched a targeted disinformation campaign to undermine French Rafale fighter aircraft sales in the aftermath of the India–Pakistan border crisis of May 2025. The claim appears in the 2025 Report to Congress by the U.S.–China Economic and Security Review Commission, which documents a range of Chinese “gray zone” activities across multiple domains, including cyber, economic, legal and informational tactics.
According to the report, Beijing began circulating fabricated material online to discredit the Rafale platform at a time when several air forces were evaluating new combat aircraft. The Commission notes that China sought to “hinder sales of French Rafale aircraft in favour of its own J-35s,” relying heavily on artificial intelligence tools and coordinated inauthentic behaviour. The report enumerates that fake social media accounts were used to spread AI-generated images depicting supposed ‘debris’ from Rafale jets, portraying them as not being reliable or effective in combat.
The timing, the report suggests, was not coincidental. India’s retaliation to Pakistan’s terror sponsorship through ‘Operation Sindoor’ had sharpened international focus on the airpower capabilities of the two neighbours. India’s earlier acquisition of Rafales had already proved an important factor in its regional air deterrence posture. China, it is alleged, attempted to sow doubt among prospective buyers of Rafale, particularly those in regions in which Beijing has been heavily marketing its J-35 stealth fighter.
The broader document outlines similar influence efforts by China in other areas, indicating a pattern of information manipulation designed to shape foreign perceptions of Chinese technology while undermining competitors. These actions, the Commission warns, fall within a larger strategy of “gray zone” operations, activities that stop short of open conflict but aim to gain strategic advantage through cyberattacks, economic pressure, disinformation, and covert political influence.
While the report does not specify the countries targeted by the alleged Rafale-related disinformation, it emphasises that AI-generated content enabled rapid, wide-scale dissemination of misleading material. The Commission highlights this as a growing challenge for governments, noting that fabricated imagery is becoming an increasingly common tool in geopolitical information campaigns.
France has not publicly responded to the specific findings, but Paris has previously accused multiple state actors of attempting to distort defence-related narratives. India too has repeatedly flagged the spread of manipulated content during periods of regional tension.
The report concludes that such campaigns reflect an evolving information environment in which advanced AI tools are accelerating the scale and sophistication of covert influence efforts, complicating global defence procurement debates and international security assessments.
Aayush Pal 
Hridbina Chatterjee 
Frank Rausan Pereira