By Al-Fassel | 2025-07-07

During the recent Israel-Iran conflict that ended with a ceasefire, fabricated combat footage was circulated on social media to falsely claim Iranian military victories against Israeli aircraft in what appeared to be a coordinated disinformation campaign.

A widely shared video purports to show Iranian forces shooting down Israeli F-35 fighter jets during the conflict that began June 13.

The video gained traction across the major social media platforms, where it was presented as evidence of successful Iranian air defense operations.

Yet the identical footage -- using month-old flight simulator videos -- had been circulating online since at least May 18, nearly a month before Israel launched its strikes, according to an investigation by fact-checking website Snopes.

The discrepancy in timing shows the video is being used as deliberate disinformation to support pro-Iranian narratives.

Early versions of the footage, from May and early June, included titles and captions containing words like "sim" or "simulation," according to Snopes.

The video appears to have originated from flight simulation software, possibly Eagle Dynamics' Digital Combat Simulator World program, which can create highly realistic aerial combat scenarios.

Technical analysis

Detailed examination of the footage revealed multiple layers of evidence exposing its fraudulent nature, beyond the timeline discrepancy.

The video actually shows the simulated destruction of Russian-made Sukhoi Su-57 fighter jets, identifiable by their distinctive white and dark military markings visible at the 45-second mark, according to Snopes' technical analysis.

This detail further undermines the claims accompanying the footage, as the Su-57 bears no resemblance to the Israeli F-35 Lightning II aircraft that various accounts claimed to show being destroyed.

The F-35 is manufactured in a uniform gray finish that Israeli forces largely maintain, unlike the aircraft shown in the fabricated footage.

A spokesperson for Eagle Dynamics confirmed its simulation software could generate "very realistic aerial combat scenes" but could not verify whether the circulating footage originated from its Digital Combat Simulator World program.

The incident highlights how flight simulation technology can be exploited for disinformation purposes during active conflicts, and demonstrates the challenges of information verification during modern warfare, security experts said.

Social media accounts also circulated a photograph falsely claiming to show a captured Israeli pilot identified as "Sarah Ahronot."

La Vanguardia and other media outlets confirmed the photograph showed Chilean Navy Lt. Junior Grade Daniela Figueroa Scholz, with the image previously published by Diálogo Americas in 2021, according to fact-checkers.

Experts warn that the ease with which images can be repurposed and recaptioned underscores the importance of source verification and timeline analysis in evaluating conflict-related claims.