Fact Check: Chopper at Jordan underwater museum shared as IAF Apache below Pangong Tso
Did the Indian Air Force (IAF) deploy Apache helicopters underwater at Pangong Tso to thwart any Chinese adventurism? A picture of a submerged chopper is going viral with such a claim.
A key India Specific Enhancements (ISE) of the Indian Apache is revealed when the IAF deployed them underwater in PangongTso. Equipped with 2×4 torpedos & Longbow Sonar (not seen on this heli) it can track and destroy any Chinese submarines in the entire lake area,” reads the claim with the viral image.
India Today Anti Fake News War Room (AFWA) has found the claim along with the picture to be mostly false. The image is from the Underwater Military Museum in Jordan. Though India did deploy Apache choppers in Ladakh in light of recent tensions with China, but they are not underwater.
AFWA probe
Reverse-searching the image, we found it on a website called ” picuki.com “. Here, it has been shared with the caption, “Stunning images from the Aqaba military museum in Jordan. Here is one of the two Bell AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters that stands at a depth of 25m (75 feet) Tag a friend you think would enjoy at his dive that offer a wide range of old military vehicles”
This gave us some clue about the video. With the help of keyword search, we were able to find various news reports related to the museum in CNN , BBC and Hindustan Times .
On July 24, 2019, Jordan had opened its first underwater military museum off the Red Sea coast. Several decommissioned pieces of military hardware such as tanks, troop carriers and helicopters were submerged at a depth of 28 metres.
Tourists often take pictures with the submerged military equipment, some of which can be seen here .
Sometime back, a video of United States choppers flying over Arizona Lake went viral as IAF Apaches over Pangong Tso. At that time too, India Today had debunked the false claim.
According to media reports , IAF had deployed Apache attack helicopters in Ladakh to provide tactical support to ground forces if needed.
More recently, it was reported that India has received the final batch of Apache helicopters from US aerospace giant Boeing.
Therefore, it is clear that India did not deploy Apaches “underwater in Pangong Tso” as claimed in the viral post. The picture being used is from the underwater military museum in Jordan which was unveiled last year.