Israel-Iran conflict: In a dramatic turn amid rising hostilities, Iranian state media reported that its air defense forces had successfully downed three Israeli F-35I Adir stealth fighter aircraft in the last 48 hours. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) strongly rejected the claims, terming them "baseless" and part of a spreading disinformation campaign. This claim came amidst the current Operation Rising Lion, a widescale Israeli aerial campaign against Iranian nuclear and military targets, which has again fuelled international discussion regarding the application of fabricated news and psychological tactics in modern warfare.

Iran Reports F-35I Shootdowns, Israel Refutes Claims

Iran's air defence network, as per reports by Iranian news agencies such as IRNA and Tasnim News Agency, intercepted and shot down three Israeli stealth fighter jets when they purportedly sought air raids deep within Iranian airspace. Iran's Army Public Relations Office, as quoted by IRNA, issued a press statement asserting that the fighter jets were intercepted using "networked radar and missile systems. A particularly sensational claim included the alleged capture of a female Israeli pilot, who it alleges ejected before her plane crashed. But no images, video or wreckage have been presented by Tehran to justify its claims. IDF categorically dismissed any loss of aircraft. "This is fully made-up, only to deceive their people and the international community," IDF spokesperson Col. Avichay Adraee said. "All Israeli planes returned safely, and none of the pilots are missing," he added. An Israeli ex-intelligence officer, in an interview with local media, described the Iranian declarations as a "desperate narrative war" aimed at regaining control after severe strategic damage inflicted by the Israeli strikes.

Disinformation As A Military Tactic?

This is not the first time fake news has been employed as a psychological weapon of war. The cyber propaganda war between India and Pakistan provides interesting similarities. After Operation Sindoor, a cross-border Indian military operation, Pakistan launched a coordinated online campaign of disinformation. Some of the most prominent allegations, recently Pakistani Defence Minister Khawaja Asif informed the National Assembly that Pakistani "cyber warriors" had breached Indian dam systems as well as floodlights during Indian Premier League (IPL) games, a claim thoroughly refuted by India's Press Information Bureau (PIB).

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Social media sites witnessed a wave of manipulated videos, game screenshots, and vintage videos wrongly linked to the ongoing conflict. A highly circulated photo, purporting to depict an Indian fighter aircraft shot down in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), was found to have originated from a combat simulation video game. Pakistan's unsubstantiated claims of destroying India's S-400 air defence system at Adampur were disproven when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the very site days later, standing beside the system in full operational condition. Confronted by an accusation by CNN over the unavailability of evidence on the downed Indian aircraft, Asif retorted, "It's all over social media." He later sidestepped further questions.

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Fake news, media manipulation, and strategic disinformation are now becoming instruments to sway public opinion, demoralise the adversary, and change global narratives. With advanced AI-created content, deepfakes, and bot networks, the transmission of war falsehoods is increasingly difficult to fight in real time. Whether in West Asia or South Asia, the battlefield these days includes your mobile phone screen. And as warfare enters the new age, facts could be the first casualty.