Inside India’s Rafale deception: How an AI Decoy fooled Pakistan into believing it shot down a jet

In what may be hailed as a masterclass in electronic warfare, India reportedly used its Rafale aircraft’s advanced X-Guard decoy system to fool Pakistan into believing it had shot down a Rafale fighter jet during Operation Sindoor – India’s precision air campaign launched on May 7 in retaliation for the Pahalgam terror attack.

The revelation came on the same day that Dassault Aviation Chairman and CEO Eric Trappier set the record straight: India did lose one Rafale jet, but it was due to a technical malfunction, not enemy action. This dismantles Pakistan’s desperate attempts to project its military as having scored an aerial win, which it clearly did not.

To make matters worse for Pakistan, a report in Jane’s Defence Weekly has now suggested that some of Islamabad’s claims may actually be based on hits scored on decoy systems, not real jets.

What is Rafale’s X-Guard?

The Rafale X-Guard is a cutting-edge, AI-enabled fibre-optic towed decoy system, part of the jet's electronic warfare suite. It’s designed to fool even the most sophisticated enemy radars and missiles, including monopulse and Lobe-On-Receive-Only (LORO) tracking systems.

According to the manufacturer Rafale Advanced Defense Systems, X-Guard is “lightweight, reusable, and retractable.” It deploys in under two seconds and creates a 360-degree jamming signal using a 100-metre fibre optic cable, enabling real-time updates without being affected by jamming.

Most critically, it mimics radar signatures and the Doppler effect of an actual Rafale, confusing enemy air defence and missile guidance systems. It becomes a decoy wingman, invisible to human eye, but irresistible to enemy fire.

In May, the company announced a new standalone version called the X-Guard RT, which could also be integrated into cargo aircraft and other platforms lacking active EW systems.

How India tricked Pakistan

Ryan Bodenheimer, a former US Air Force pilot, told IDRW.org that India’s use of the Rafale’s X-Guard was “the best spoofing and deception we’ve ever seen.”

The decoy system completely fooled Pakistan’s Chinese-made PL-15E air-to-air missiles and J-10C fighter jets, leading Pakistani radar and missile systems to believe they had taken down real Rafales.

“The PL-15E missile... could not resist the spoofing,” said Bodenheimer. The KLJ-7A AESA radar onboard the J-10C jets was also tricked into recording hits on decoys rather than real aircraft. Bodenheimer added: “The mission may have redefined the rules of electronic warfare.”

Jane’s Defence Weekly corroborated this analysis, reporting that Pakistani claims of downing Indian jets may have been based on false positives generated by decoys.

What Dassault and India’s Defence Secretary said

Dassault CEO Eric Trappier in an interview with French defence portal Avion De Chasse clarified that only one Rafale was lost, and not in combat. “The incident occurred at an altitude of over 12,000 metres during an extended training mission,” he said. There was no hostile radar contact, no enemy action.

India’s Defence Secretary RK Singh, speaking to CNBC-TV18, also dismissed claims that Pakistan shot down any Indian Rafales. “You have used the term Rafales in the plural; I can assure you that is absolutely not correct. Pakistan suffered losses many times over India in both human and material terms and more than 100 terrorists.”

He also emphasised that Indian armed forces had complete operational autonomy: “No political constraints on our armed forces... they have full operational freedom in conflict.”

Even India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan rubbished Pakistan’s claims of downing six Indian jets, calling them “absolutely incorrect.” He noted that Indian forces “penetrated all their air defences with impunity” and executed precision strikes deep inside Pakistani territory.

China’s shadow war against Rafale

As Pakistan floundered under the pressure of facts, China appears to have launched a parallel information war.

A report by the Associated Press, citing French military and intelligence sources, said China used its embassies to spread disinformation about the Rafale’s performance during Operation Sindoor. The goal? To dissuade countries like Indonesia from purchasing Rafales and shift them towards Chinese alternatives.

The propaganda campaign shows how deeply China is invested in undermining Western defence manufacturers, not just through military hardware but through coordinated diplomatic sabotage.

India’s strategic use of the Rafale’s X-Guard has not only exposed Pakistan’s military vulnerability but also highlighted its willingness to believe its own propaganda. China’s alleged involvement in attacking the Rafale’s credibility only reinforces the notion of an axis of misinformation aimed at countering India’s growing air superiority.