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Facepalm: It seems that wherever there is war in the world, there will also be clips of video games that people claim are real footage. Once again, this form of propaganda involves old favorites Arma 3 and War Thunder, with the Middle East conflict helping increase the spread.
Following Israel's surprise airstrikes on Iranian targets on June 13, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps posted a clip of what it claimed was the country's military downing an Israeli jet fighter.
The clip initially appeared on IRGC-affiliated Tasnim News Agency, writes PC Gamer, before it spread across social media and messaging apps, often with the caption, "we shot down an Israeli jet."
As you can no doubt tell from the video, it's not real. It comes from military simulator Arma 3. The game is known for its almost photorealistic graphics, and the clip has fooled plenty of people. It's actually proved so convincing that the Israel Defense Forces had to issue a statement to The Jerusalem Post confirming that "The footage is fake," and "No Israeli aircraft have been downed."
It's not just Arma 3 being used for these purposes. Another video making the rounds, one that's arguably more convincing, claims to show an advanced Israeli F-35 fighter jet being intercepted and destroyed by the defense systems of the Islamic Republic of Iran Army.
O momento em que o avançado caça israelense F-35 foi interceptado e destruído pelos sistemas de defesa do exército da República Islâmica do Irã; veja VÍDEO pic.twitter.com/V6H1dwAq8r – BLOG ALDO ALMEIDA (@BLOGALDOALMEIDA) June 15, 2025
The clip is actually from War Thunder. It was made by a fan and posted to YouTube two weeks ago. The description partly reads: "Russia's 9K33 Osa surface-to-air missile system locks onto and destroys an American F/A-18C fighter jet."
There's a long history of clips from video games being passed off as real footage. One that circulated in October 2022 supposedly showing the Ukrainian military striking Russian Army tanks also turned out to be Arma 3 footage. Part of the same clip was used in a video from 2020 that claimed it was an American anti-aircraft weapon destroying an Iranian missile.
There was also a case in 2018 when Russian TV showed an Arma 3 clip that it claimed was actual footage from the Syrian war (below).
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