Any computer can be jailbroken if you have complete access to it.
The question is more, “do you really want to fly a hacked jet”?
Dutch Defence Secretary Boldly Claims F-35 Software Could Be 'Jailbroken'
Submitted 16 hours ago by supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz to aboringdystopia@lemmy.world
https://theaviationist.com/2026/02/15/dutch-defence-secretary-f35-software/
Comments
1dalm@lemmings.world 16 hours ago
Theoriginalthon@lemmy.world 13 hours ago
Fuck yeah I want to download a
carjetLadyMeow@lemmy.blahaj.zone 15 hours ago
Well, I quit android a while ago. I had loaded a different rom onto it to make the experience tolerable (and it’s one of the things acolytes pitch! So much freedom!) but it would kernel panic in the night occasionally and I would miss my alarm in the morning. Then I gave up.
So I would worry about flying in a jet that was uh…. Jailbroken.
halcyoncmdr@piefed.social 12 hours ago
The question is more, “do you really want to fly a hacked jet”?
No the question is… Is the modified code more secure than the proprietary code created under a virtually unlimited budget by companies that have zero reason to do anything more than the minimum contract requirement which almost certainly doesn’t specify software security requirements.
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 14 hours ago
The problem is not a hypothetical kill switch (which is unlikely in a fighter aircraft, as there’s no reliable way of having a back door only the good guys can use, and any possibility of enemy hackers pwning your jets is a nightmare scenario). It’s the F35 being designed as the tip of a very long spear, with most of it being in the US. There’s a lot of support infrastructure one requires, and mitigating dependencies on the US would involve replacing that, at considerable expense.
It’s not impossible, though it’s debatable whether it makes more sense than developing your own fighter instead.
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 13 hours ago
The problem is not a hypothetical kill switch (which is unlikely in a fighter aircraft, as there’s no reliable way of having a back door only the good guys can use, and any possibility of enemy hackers pwning your jets is a nightmare scenario).
Wait, do you think they would not do that simply because it is a bad idea?
AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space 1 hour ago
I can imagine the Trump administration ordering a kill switch to be put into the export version, explicitly disregarding any concerns. I can also imagine the kill switch being vibe coded by some Big Balls-style bros on secondment from one of Musk’s companies, and North Korean hackers finding it immediately.
Psaldorn@lemmy.world 12 hours ago
Imagine the stock price once one her is confirmed hacked/kill switched. Every global sky using the platform stops using it and the maintenance contracts and buy orders are cancelled.
Any defence company would refuse to build something that, if actually used, destroys the company.
It didn’t stop then releasing a software update at any time that could do the same though, so… still a sort of valid fear, if international relations were already crumbling and the order book was empty etc
gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 3 hours ago
That’s not the problem that really needs to be solved.
Figure out how to break the supply chain dependencies. THAT is the real kill-switch.
Look to China and the saga of the J-11 (and related airframes) for more context on that.
phoenixz@lemmy.ca 12 hours ago
Who cares about that? Software lockout is highly unlikely as it could be used against the US.
Good luck with spare parts, THAT will be a problem
MonkderVierte@lemmy.zip 1 hour ago
I mean, can’t they just create spare parts?
JeffKerman1999@sopuli.xyz 8 hours ago
I think they are talking about the total awareness thingy where they must send the operation plan to the USA and get a digitally signed package to install on the plane. Without that, the plane is a very cool paperweight.
floquant@lemmy.dbzer0.com 16 hours ago
I hope they’re working on their own firmware behind the scenes, or at least enough reverse engineering efforts to regain some autonomy
Zer0_F0x@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
Lol just drop an F35 brain off in pretty much any hacking convention / competition, sit back for a day and enjoy the most literal manifestation of the phrase “weaponized autism”.
I’d bet good money someone manages to run Doom on the AR visor within a week.
1dalm@lemmings.world 15 hours ago
Europe would be better off just developing their own weapons systems rather than trying to hack a 35.
JeffKerman1999@sopuli.xyz 9 hours ago
Unfortunately being part of NATO means also having to buy American weapons.
supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz 15 hours ago
The idea this is something to trust in… for something as serious as national defense is absurd.
WalnutLum@lemmy.ml 13 hours ago
I’m not sure there would be much of a choice in a situation where the US held operation of the F-35 hostage.
Supposedly these nations bought the F-35 because it was a superior fighter, so the choice would be using an “inferior” domestic fighter (I think the typhoon is great so this argument seems silly to me) or jailbreaking and potentially having an imperfect implementation of the platform’s software.
Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 59 minutes ago
I’m sure the tech would be circumventable, it’s the legal issues that could have consequences of their own - the USA companies that supply the parts & we pledged to buy 500 years of exclusive support from … have control of the USA military, it’s not just a matter of going to court.