Iranian media claims to hit Israeli planes, but footage was actually a video game
The clip is nothing more than an excerpt from a video game, Arma 3. The realistic images, among other things, are cyclically re-proposed to document alleged jet shootdowns.
"We shot down an Israeli jet". Iran claims partial success against Israel in the war that has been going on for three days. Tehran, since the early hours of June 13, has been hit by the Israeli offensive that uses its planes to hit military targets, nuclear sites and oil facilities.
Iran initially claimed to have shot down a jet and captured a pilot. The news was denied by Israel, which spoke bluntly of fake news. A few hours later, a new announcement from Iranian sources: an Israeli plane was shot down and there is also a video. The clip bounces on social media, showing a jet being hit by anti-aircraft fire.
There is something wrong, however. The doubts are more than well-founded. The clip is nothing more than an excerpt from a video game, Arma 3. The realistic images, among other things, are cyclically re-proposed to document alleged jet shootdowns. Further detail: the plane inserted in the video game is not even Israeli but, apparently, it would be a Russian model...
I am truly laughing at accounts on here using really amateur AI to lie about what’s happening in Israel. Pro Tip - if you’re going to make a false claim, at least try to use an advanced AI generator to do it ⬇️ https://t.co/JaJTr4jSb9— Josh Lafazan (@JoshLafazan) June 14, 2025
Security bloggers traced the rumor to an item that first appeared on the IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency and was then amplified by a network of Telegram channels that routinely recycle pro-Tehran talking points.
Within 40 minutes the same claim—stripped of any attribution—spread to X, Facebook and even two Lebanese satellite stations, forcing the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit to issue a rare on-the-record denial. “No Israeli aircraft have been downed. The footage is fake,” the statement said, adding that every pilot who took part in Friday’s raids “landed safely at base.”
hyper realistic video game footage is "routinely weaponized"
Open-source analysts at Bellingcat and GeoConfirmed quickly demonstrated why: the viral clip was lifted frame by frame from a December 2022 mission mod in the military-simulation video game Arma 3. Developer Bohemia Interactive has warned since 2023 that its hyper-realistic imagery is “routinely weaponized” in conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza—and offered a checklist for spotting fakes, including low resolution, shaky off-screen recording and aircraft models that don’t match the claimed air force.
