The first batch of five French Rafale fighter jets reached Haryana’s Ambala to join the Indian Air Force fleet on July 29 after flying a distance of about 7,000 km. The fighter jets took off from France on July 27 and made a halt in the UAE.
In the backdrop of this, a video of mid-air refuelling of a jet is being circulated on social media platforms with the claim that the video was shot from inside of one of the Rafale jets headed for India.
‘Mid-air refuelling of Rafale Fighter Jets on their way to India,’ reads the caption of one such post.
Few shots from 30,000 feet! Mid air refuelling of #RafaleJets on their way to #India pic.twitter.com/2gtpu3VTqd
— Vaibhav Tailor (@Vaibhav74030322) July 30, 2020
Few shots from 30,000 feet! Mid air refuelling of #RafaleJets on their way to #India #rafale pic.twitter.com/kelKtAuuGF
— Jedai Master (@tango_charlie79) July 29, 2020
Bollywood paparazzi photographer Viral Bhayani shared the video with the same claim. The post had garnered over 800,000 views.
Claim:
Viral video shows mid-air refuelling of Rafale fighter jets on its way to India.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
A Google Reverse Image search was done by breaking the video into individual frames and using InVid.
This led to a tweet posted 2 years ago which carried the viral video. It was posted by the Brazillian Airforce authority.
Interoperabilidade! Caça F-5 da Força Aérea Brasileira realiza reabastecimento em voo em caça A-4 da Marinha do Brasil! ↗ @marmilbr Maj Gustavo Cury.#1GDA #AviaçãodeCaça #FAB #Dimensão22 #Defender #ForçasArmadas #Brasil pic.twitter.com/AzDNIQvmTR
— Força Aérea Brasileira (@fab_oficial) September 28, 2018
According to the information mentioned in the tweet, the footage is of a Brazilian Airforce F-5 fighter jet and shows an in-flight refuelling on Brazilian Navy A-4 fighter jets.
The same video was uploaded on Youtube and in other websites in 2018.
Therefore the video is old and cannot be related to the Rafale fighter jets which reached India on July 29.
Actual Set Of Events
On their way to India, the jets were refuelled mid-air from a French tanker at a height of 30,000 feet.
The Indian Air Force had released these images:
Indian Air Force appreciates the support provided by French Air Force for our Rafale journey back home. @Armee_de_lair @Indian_Embassy @Dassault_OnAir #Rafale#IndianAirForce pic.twitter.com/7Ec8oqOJmr
— Indian Air Force (@IAF_MCC) July 28, 2020
More information on the Rafale Fighter jets can be accessed here.
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