War Thunder clip shared as Iran war footage debunked

A clip shared widely on social media that purported to show an American ship shooting down an Iranian fighter jet has been debunked as footage from the military simulation game War Thunder. The post drew over seven million views and was shared by several accounts, including Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who captioned the clip "Bye bye" before deleting it.

No attack by an Iranian plane on a US ship of the type shown in the clip has taken place during the current conflict. Iran did claim on March 1 that it struck the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier, a claim the Pentagon denied. Gaijin Entertainment’s head of PR, Konstantin Govorun, told AFP, "yes, this looks like War Thunder footage." This is part of a wider pattern in which game footage is circulated as real wartime material.

Last year, clips from Arma 3 and War Thunder were reused for propaganda, prompting the Israeli military to clarify "the footage is fake." Bohemia Interactive called such misuse disheartening and has published guidance to help people spot fakes.

Iran, Texas

war thunder, game footage, fake footage, iran, abraham lincoln, greg abbott, gaijin entertainment, bohemia interactive, arma 3, misinformation