French officials say they have found that the Chinese embassies are trying to undermine Rafale sales by persuading countries that have already ordered the jets, notably Indonesia, not to buy them and instead choose Chinese-made fighters.

France's Defense Ministry said the Rafale was targeted by “a vast campaign of disinformation" that “sought to promote the superiority of alternative equipment, notably of Chinese design.”

This has revealed Chinese ambition to penetrate the tier 1 weapons market, while the operation was employed by the DG ISPR to promote Chinese weaponrycordin