A fleet of five French-manufactured Rafale jets arrived in India on July 29. The new planes were escorted by two Sukhoi 30 MKIs after they entered the Indian air space in Ambala, as per the media. In the backdrop of this, an 11-second clip of an aeroplane refuelling another mid-air has gone viral with the claim that these are new Indian Rafale jets.
Twitter user @dreamthatworks, who is also followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, posted the viral video and wrote, “And that is how the refuelling is done mid-air #ThankYouPmModiForRafale #RafaleJets #RafalePowersIndia“. This tweet has been retweeted over 1,000 times.
And that is how the refuelling is done mid-air #ThankYouPmModiForRafale #RafaleJets #RafalePowersIndia @KiranKS
@anilkohli54 pic.twitter.com/vUtPuTsz0a— DreamThatWorks (@dreamthatworks) July 29, 2020
Similarly, several Twitter users posted this clip along with the claim.
Ever wondered how refuelling is done mid-air?? This is how it works. #indianairforce #RafaleJets #Rafale @IAF_MCC pic.twitter.com/ByKrFz4Y30
— Vivek(Mathai)George (@vivekmathai) July 29, 2020
Fact-check
Alt News performed a reverse image search using InVid, a video verification too, and found that the viral video was tweeted by the Brazilian Air Force in 2018.
As per their tweet, the video shows Brazilian Air Force’s F-5 engaged in mid-flight refuelling of the Brazilian Navy’s A-4 fighter jet.
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
Images of mid-air refuelling of Indian Rafale jets were posted by the Indian Embassy in France on July 28.
Few shots from 30,000 feet! Mid air refuelling of #RafaleJets on their way to #India@IAF_MCC @French_Gov @FranceinIndia @MEAIndia @IndianDiplomacy @DDNewslive @ANI @DefenceMinIndia @Armee_de_lair @JawedAshraf5 pic.twitter.com/VE7lJUcZe7
— India in France (@Indian_Embassy) July 28, 2020
The viral video was earlier fact-checked by News Mobile.
A 2018 video tweeted by the Brazilian Air Force was shared as mid-air refuelling of Rafale jets en route India.
