The UK Department for International Trade (DIT) has been caught making an embarrassing blunder on social media, by promoting Britain’s iconic RAF Red Arrows using a Russian jet on their poster, forcing them to delete the tweet.

Rather than illustrate an image of a BAE Hawk T1 jet, the poster depicted a silhouette of a much larger Sukhoi Su-30/33 or 35 fighter. Instead of positively helping to drum up support for a Red Arrows tour of the US – the largest in 25 years – the poster brought the wrong kind of attention.

🤦‍♂️Government illustrates poster promoting Red Arrows... with a Russian jet.Silhouette of iconic Russian Sukhoi Su-30/33 used instead of the BAE Hawk T1 which the Red Arrows famously fly...https://t.co/hKX36II8Azpic.twitter.com/bq0UkoEung — Lucy Fisher (@LOS_Fisher) June 26, 2019

In a now-deleted tweet, the DIT detailed how the Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team will be flying BAE Hawk T1 jets, which can reach an altitude of 48,000ft. A number of military aviation experts were quick to point out the error on Twitter.

A spokesman for the DIT said they deleted the tweet due to doubts over the image they used, claiming that they “wanted to be sure of its provenance following comments made on Twitter.”

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“Both the Red Arrows and DIT are content with the image, however, we think it’s best to repost an image that more closely resembles the Red Arrows aircraft,” he added.

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