The French Navy has issued a strong rebuttal to claims circulating in Pakistani media outlets, including Geo News, Dunya News, and Times of Islamabad, which falsely attributed statements to a French naval officer regarding claims that Pakistan shot down multiple Rafale fighter jets of the Indian Air Force during the May 2025 India-Pakistan conflict during India’s Operation Sindoor. In a detailed thread posted on X (formerly Twitter) on November 22, the Marine Nationale labelled the reports as “#FAKENEWS” and clarified that Captain Yvan Launay, whose name was reported as “Jacques” in the articles, never consented to any publication and made no such assertions.
The controversy stems from articles published in the past few days that quoted Captain Launay, purportedly from a briefing or conference, praising Pakistan’s purported air superiority and blaming Indian pilot errors for the loss of Rafale jets. Geo News reported on November 21 that ‘Captain Jacques Launay’ confirmed Pakistan’s air superiority in May 2025 combat with India, claiming the Rafale fighters were shot down not due to the technological edge of China’s J-10C jets used by Pakistan, but rather operational flaws on the Indian side.
Geo TV quoted Captain Launay as saying at a briefing, “It was a very complicated situation in which more than 140 fighter jets were involved. It was very easy to hit an aircraft because a large number of targets were available to both sides. Pakistan handled that complicated situation better than its adversary.”
The outlet described Launay as revealing “secrets” behind Pakistan’s victory, claiming that the Rafales’ radar failures were due to pilot overload, not due to any inherent weaknesses in the aircraft.
Similar narratives appeared in other Pakistani publications. Dunya News reproduced these claims on November 22, stating that Launay lauded Pakistan’s air defence systems and directly blamed “Indian pilots’ mistakes” for the Rafale losses during the May clashes.
Times of Islamabad went further, asserting that the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) downed Indian Rafales using “superior tactics,” claiming that Launay allegedly unveiled “tactical flaws” in India’s approach that led to the jets’ vulnerability against the J-10C.
Other sources, such as Pakistan Today and Samaa TV, amplified the story, with headlines like “French commander confirms India’s Rafale jets shot down by Pakistan in May clash,” repeating the claims attributed to Launay.
However, French Navy has denied all these claims, saying that Commander Launay never made such commands, and he was only talking about fighters at his naval base, and he had refused to comment on Operation Sindoor when asked about it. They stated that he is a commander of a naval air station housing French Rafale Marine aircraft, and not an expert on Indo-Pak aerial engagements that included Air Force version of the Rafale from the Indian side.
[#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 Navy stated that during a routine presentation at an Indo-Pacific conference, Launay discussed the assets of his base, the Rafale’s missions, and France’s carrier strike group concept. He neither confirmed nor denied any shootdowns related to Operation Sindoor, and refused to comment on alleged jamming of Indian Rafales by Chinese systems. The French Navy also made it categorically clear that Captain Yvan Launay never mentioned the Chinese J10.
Instead, his remarks focused on general fighter pilot challenges, such as cognitive overload from excessive cockpit information, which can impair situational awareness in any combat scenario, irrespective of aircraft type or numbers.
The French Navy statement emphasized that the articles contained “extensive misinformation and disinformation,” highlighting how Launay’s generic comments on aviation psychology were twisted to fit a narrative of Pakistani triumph. They said, “He expressed his point of view as a fighter pilot on the cognitive overload that pilots can face in aerial combat due to the large amount of information coming into the cockpit, which can lead to a decrease in situational awareness, regardless of the number of aircraft.”
Pakistan government and its media have resorted to non-stop lies after its humiliating defeat against India in Operation Sindoor. There are satellite images showing extensive damage to air force bases, aircrafts and radar stations in Pakistan in Indian air strikes. Some of its air bases were inoperative for months due to runway damage, and its hangars with fighter jets and AWACS planes were destroyed by Indian missiles and drones.
In contrast, Pakistan has offered no evidence to back its claim of shooting down several Indian jets including Rafale jets. India has also denied losing multiple jets, with an indication that one jet may have been lost.