BBC locates footage of crashed Indian Rafale jet

BBC Verify has authenticated videos showing debris from a crashed French-made Rafale fighter jet, the same model used by India's air force, near Bathinda in Punjab state.

The analysis confirms:

• One daytime video geolocated to a field near Bathinda shows troops recovering aircraft wreckage
• Two nighttime clips from the same location show burning debris and a projectile mid-explosion
• Military experts identified debris as matching French air-to-air missiles used on Rafales
• A circulating image shows a tail fin marked "BS001" and "Rafale" with no prior digital record

The Indian Air Force has not commented on the apparent crash of the advanced fighter jet, which India acquired in a $9.4 billion deal with France. The location sits approximately 150 km from the Pakistan border.

Defense analyst Justin Crump of Sibylline told the BBC the wreckage appears consistent with French missile systems used on both Rafale and Mirage 2000 jets.

The verification comes amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.

The development Chinese-manufactured fighter jets used by Pakistan reportedly shot down at least two Indian military aircraft, 

The U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated with high confidence that Pakistan deployed its Chinese-made J-10 fighter jets in air-to-air combat against Indian forces. One of the aircraft reportedly downed was identified as a French-made Rafale fighter, part of India’s recently upgraded fleet.

Both sources clarified that U.S.-made F-16s, also in Pakistan’s arsenal, were not involved in the incident.