AI video of burning ship does not show USS Abraham Lincoln sinking after missile strike
- Published on March 10, 2026 at 10:09
- 4 min read
- By Tendai DUBE, AFP South Africa
A day after war broke out in the Middle East, Iran claimed it had struck the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in retaliation for attacks carried out by Israel and the United States. Soon after, social media posts began circulating various videos purporting to show the carrier sinking and on fire, including one clip of the nuclear-powered warship listing at sea. However, the footage was created using artificial intelligence. The Pentagon and US Central Command denied that the Nimitz-class vessel was hit.
“JUST IN Iranian missiles have sunk USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf,” reads the caption of a Facebook video published on March 2, 2026, and shared more than 200 times.
The post includes a grainy 10-second video showing smoke and fire billowing from a carrier at sea, purportedly recorded from the window of a passing aircraft. Fighter jets appear to have slipped off the deck into the water.
Similar claims were shared in Arabic and Hindi.
US-Iran war
On February 28, 2026, the US and Israel carried out a series of strikes against military targets in Iran, triggering quick retaliation across the region (archived here).
Iranian state media confirmed that the US-Israeli attacks resulted in the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s hardline spiritual leader and top political figure.
On March 1, 2026, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was cited as saying it struck the US military’s aircraft carrier, the USS Abraham Lincoln, with “four ballistic missiles”, without offering proof (archived here).
The IRGC in its 4th statement regarding Operation True Promise 4, announced: Following the Iran’s Armed Forces’ actions and the attack on the targets of the US-Israeli enemies, the US military's aircraft carrier, the Abraham Lincoln, was struck by four ballistic missiles.
— IRNA News Agency ☫ (@IrnaEnglish) March 1, 2026
The Pentagon denied Iran’s claims the same day (archived here).
“The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X (archived here).
“The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by eliminating threats from the Iranian regime,” the post added.
Iran’s IRGC claims to have struck USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles. LIE.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 1, 2026
✅The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close. The Lincoln continues to launch aircraft in support of CENTCOM’s relentless campaign to defend the American people by… pic.twitter.com/AjaeHMemtA
The Navy aircraft carrier, usually based in California, was deployed to the Indo-Pacific region in November 2025, before being routed to the Middle East (archived here).
But posts claiming to show footage of the USS Abraham Lincoln’s destruction are false.
Fabricated footage
An Instagram watermark visible in the video shows it was posted by an account called “@96_w6”.
AFP Fact Check traced the clip to a clearer version originally published in a post on February 28, 2026, which was later edited.
“Urgent: Iran is sinking the US aircraft carrier in the Red Sea now!" reads the edited Arabic caption.
A text overlay on the video reads: “Breaking News: Iran shells the American aircraft carrier in the Red Sea.”
An Arabic voice repeats the claim in the audio, which the Hiya voice-cloning detector recognised as AI-generated with 96 percent probability.
There are also visual clues that the clip is the work of an AI tool: unlike the smoke and flames, the water aimed at the flames is static, as are the fighter jets, which seem to float on top of the water.
The Instagram post also carries an AI label -- but this is only visible on mobile devices.
The author of the post later pinned a comment, writing: “This video is designed with artificial intelligence and has no validity at all”.
The warnings, though, are belated; the post has been shared more than 66,000 times and viewed over 3.6 million times.
Based in Iraq, the account has changed its name once since it was created in September 2025. However, posts on the page appear to start only on February 28, 2026, indicating a likely attempt to rebrand with an Iranian focus.
Images created with AI or taken from video games are frequently used to spread misinformation during armed conflicts (archived here).
The influx of visual misinformation led social media platform X to announce on March 3, 2026, that it would suspend creators from its revenue programme if they publish AI-generated videos of armed conflicts without a disclaimer (archived here).
Today we are revising our Creator Revenue Sharing policies to maintain authenticity of content on Timeline and prevent manipulation of the program.
— Nikita Bier (@nikitabier) March 3, 2026
During times of war, it is critical that people have access to authentic information on the ground. With today’s AI technologies,…
AFP Fact Check has debunked other misinformation about the Middle East war here, including French claims about the USS Abraham Lincoln (here and here).
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