'It's Possible to jailbreak F-35 like iPhone', Says Dutch State Secretary of Defense Tuinman

Submitted ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨Beep@lemmus.org⁩ to ⁨technology@lemmy.world⁩

https://www.bnr.nl/nieuws/nieuws-politiek/10594175/staatssecretaris-van-defensie-tuinman-nederland-is-eind-2028-klaar-voor-een-russische-aanval

A widespread concern is what would happen to Dutch weapon systems if the Americans were to withdraw completely as an ally. For example, Dutch F-35 aircraft are dependent on American software updates. Yet, Tuinman isn’t particularly worried about this.

“The F-35 is truly a shared product. The British make the Rolls-Royce engines, and the Americans simply need them too.” And even if this mutual dependency doesn’t result in software updates, the F-35, in its current state, is still a better aircraft than other types of fighters.

If you still want to upgrade despite everything, I’m going to say something I should never say, but I will anyway: you can jailbreak an F-35 just like an iPhone. (Crack it with your own software, ed.)

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Comments

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MatSeFi@lemmy.liebeleu.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago

Next F35-frimware-dump on Piratebay:

  [ RELEASE INFORMATION ]
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  NAME......: F-35_Series_FW_Utility
  VERSION...: v2.4.0-OPEN
  DATE......: 2026-05-04
  PLATFORM..: Embedded Linux / RTOS
  TYPE......: Firmware Dump & Tools
  SIZE .....: 14.2 GB (840x50MB)
  ORIGIN....: Internal Flash (SPI/NAND)

  [ DESCRIPTION ]
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  This package contains a jailbreaked binary dump of the flight 
  controller. Included are scripts for:
  
  * Hex-signature verification
  * Partition table analysis
  * File system extraction and flashing
  
  [ INSTALLATION / USAGE ]
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  1. Ensure your Fighter jet is in USB-Debugging mode.
  2. Run 'python3 F35_jailbreak_flash.py --check-signatures'
  3. Take Off
  
  CAUTION: Modifying firmware can result in a bricked device
  or "Fly-Away" scenarios. Use at your own risk.

  [ GREETS ]
  -------------------------------------------------------------------
  To the researchers, the tinkerer community, and all those 
  who believe in the right to repair and modify their hardware.

  -------------------------------------------------------------------
             "Information wants to be free."```

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Winter_Oven@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
tell me more about the “Fly-Away” scenarios

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stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I was picturing more like a custom ROM on XDA: “Bugs? You tell me.”

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ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Help, how do I unlock the bootloader

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- DivineDev@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  During startup, press the fire missile and eject buttons at the same time for 20 seconds
  
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Sabata11792@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Flashing failed 5 minutes in, did I brick my F-35 or is it recoverable?

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- MatSeFi@lemmy.liebeleu.de ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Depends on your altitude…
  
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- SayJess@piefed.blahaj.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Depends. You did schedule backups right? Right?
  
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edgemaster72@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
You wouldn’t download a ~~car~~ fighter jet’s custom firmware

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TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
imagine flying a jailbroken fighter plane that gets an over-the-air update that bricks the controls

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- Soup@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Something tells me fighter planes don’t get updates from anything other than a computer plugged directly into them.
  
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  - boonhet@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    In production since 2006 and of course they were designing the things earlier than that, so…
    
    Wouldn’t be surprised if it’s like some cars of the late 90’s and early 00’s and you need a computer with an RS-232 port to connect to a multiplexer of some sort that connects to the plane
    
    E.g to get full dealer level access to old Mercedes cars, you’d need one of these:
    
    Image
    
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  - RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    That would seem like an awful idea that would be a dangerous security risk to the fighter.
    
    So they probably did it anyway.
    
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- cecilkorik@piefed.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  “ATTENTION! Your jet has been hacked by MilitaryGod Tech Team[LOL]. Your radios and controls have been disabled. Do not attempt to eject. Please send 10 bitcoin to wallet 214d93120cd3192ea019ab03928f1fa03 immediately to unlock your controls. If we do not receive payment in 15 minutes, all weapons onboard will be launched at nearby friendly targets. Thank you for your prompt attention to this urgent matter. Have a nice day!”
  
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- IAmNorRealTakeYourMeds@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  tbf, that can happen without jailbreaking
  
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- DoPeopleLookHere@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Can you elaborate on the Gripen?
  
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  - BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    [deleted]
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  - AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    youtu.be/4Bbk-9kzMh4
    
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Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I don’t want to be the guy to tell my boss I’ve bricked the F-35

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- Iconoclast@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Even broke the warranty seal over the USB port.
  
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- Cocodapuf@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah… Fighter jets don’t really get bricked.
  
  A brick is when you’ve messed something up to the point where the hardware doesn’t boot and the only possible solution would be to pull out a rom chip and replace it with one with factory settings, but that’s too hard and not worth doing.
  
  But that’s the thing, with the F-35, it’ll never be not worth doing.
  
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  - hcbxzz@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You’re assuming they’ll still sell you parts after you tried to bypass the locks
    
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  - elucubra@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Modern airplanes, especially military, are Uber complex, and mostly made of bespoke components, and take decades and billions to develop. The idea that $5000 will pay for replacing a core component or system is just plain preposterous.
    
    Just look at the fun Russia is having sourcing spares to keep commercial western jets flying, despite having one of the world’s most capable aviation industries.
    
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  - Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Add some zeroes to that
    
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- squaresinger@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yeah, that’s not a job I’d be comfortable doing.
  
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Agent641@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Install Graphene on it lol

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- Ghostie@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Graphene Devs: We can’t support it because it doesn’t have a Titan M Chip blah blah blah
  
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Emi@ani.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
And here I thought the military would want their stuff to work without software updates and be open source.

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- Humanius@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  The military wants the best equipment, and currently that is the American F-35.
  
  That comes with a dependence on the United States, and at the time of purchasing these jets that dependence was not considered to be a particular concern because America is a good ally and a part of NATO.
  
  Following Trump’s re-election and antics over Greenland, that calculation is now different. It might not be worth it to buy new F-35s at this point (though Germany seems to be considering it still), but the Dutch army has pre-existing F-35s which we should be able to use even if America doesn’t want us to for whatever reason.
  
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  - vacuumflower@lemmy.sdf.org ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    With F-35’s costs, is it really the best equipment? I suspect the real reason is that replacing it is a gigantic undertaking that might be far more expensive short-term.
    
    The components dependency part in fighter jets, though, is something they really should be able to solve. Those are very complex systems, but designed with integration and customization in mind. That’s one of the reasons they are so expensive. Slowly replacing everything in them with components from more reliable producers is normal for militaries. Well, for militaries with actual RnD and production, of course Uzbekistan or Colombia can’t do that, but Netherlands can.
    
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  - sp3ctr4l@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    So basically, its enshittification.
    
    … but with a multi role stealth aircraft.
    
    Its very funny to me that all the people who make all the decisions and rules around how software should work… are finding out that when everything hss software in it, well, everything has software in it.
    
    Personally I’m waiting for more custom ROMs or whatever for cars.
    
    Oh yeah this car is unlocked, you just actually get all the features, no need to pay Ford or GM or BMW on an perpetual basis for your heated seats.
    
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  - MITM0@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    You call F35 the best ? The thing cannot fly well on a rainy day & it has shit landing-gear.
    
    Get Sukhois, Eurofighter, Migs or Gripen (Rafales are good too)
    
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- teuniac_@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  What sounds better, LibreJet or Free35?
  
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Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Please keep buying our jets bro

We spent $1 trillion to make them bro, we need these to work bro

We’ll iron out all he bugs, trust us bro

It’s the best jet ever made bro, it’s killed so many Palestinians and Iranians bro

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- mlg@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I’m still waiting for them to use the F-35 against an actual competent adversary with an actual airforce, but I think the only possibility would be China.
  
  Maybe Pakistan if India buys the F-35, but even they know its a Lockheed money scam.
  
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  - Cocodapuf@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I mean, there’s Russia.
    
    And don’t get me wrong, I don’t really want to call them competent, but their planes are modern. And for Christ sake, we should be squaring off with them in Ukraine.
    
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  - TronBronson@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I mean they can be riddled with bugs and the best aircraft available. Chinas always going to lean in on raw numbers. Their aircraft are not superior, nor are their pilots who are always causing international incidents. The problem is the insane amount of resources that went into it and the fact that it really doesn’t have an adversary. There’s no telling if it will remain relevant for long enough to pay back the investment. For me it’s more of a “we needed a super jet like we needed a war in Iraq” vibe. No question its better than the Chinese equivalent (which there is none)
    
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tabular@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Right to repair my F-35!

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Chivera@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Can it run doom?

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- talentedkiwi@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  In the most literal sense.
  
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  - Lawnman23@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Image
    
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FauxLiving@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Upon hearing this news I ordered a F-35 from Ali Express but they sent me a J-35 instead. Does the jailbreak still work on this device or am I stuck with the stock software? What’s the character for landing gear again?

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- Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Check budgetfighterforums.com
  
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Akasazh@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I didn’t know our state secretary was a Warthunder enthousiast.

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Jaysyn@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
What about replacement parts? Just cut your losses & get something not made by fascists.

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regedit@lemmy.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The future is vibe coders getting jobs creating plausible, yet fundamentally broken firmware updates to OTA brick F-35 fighter jets.

Come attack us, I dare you. Jack here used his prompting skills to package some Stack Overflow RUST code into Golang binaries that another prompt converted into XHTML so another prompt could compile it into a Bash script to fix the bug in flight controls. Come within 50-nautical miles and we’ll OTA update your plane so hard you wish we fired missiles at you!

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zalgotext@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Well yeah, nerds in their basement with a passion for repairability figured out how to jailbreak iPhones, of course nation-states with a passion for ~killing others~ protecting their global interests are gonna figure out how to jailbreak their war machines

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metermatic26@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
I’ve been working in the Dutch tech sector for decades. My general opinion about the culture of Dutch governmental institutions, including Defense, is one of neoliberalism and technological opportunism. Public officials are completely ignorant about technology, yet misuse technology to advance their careers by by starting megalomanic IT-projects that never realized.

All of this has caused governments to become highly digitized, with large pools of IT-‘professionals’, yet barely able to maintain and develop the digital infrastructure they built up since the 2000’s, because of a catastrophic shortage of tech-savy leaders and professionals.

The reason I mention this, is because Dutch public officials are generally both highly techno-optimistic as well as highly techno-ignorant.

Tuinman likely shared this comment in an attempt to comfort the public, but it betrays his fundamental lack of understanding about the digital infrastructure that makes up the F35. And if Tuinman is being fed this sort of information by his subordinates, then I’m worried that the experts at Defense might not actually understand the infrastructure either.

The risk in all of this, is that Defense and the political establishment might be lulling themselves into a false sense of security, by underestimating the risks.

the risks involved.

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- mattyroses@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Worked as an American consultant for the Dutch government in IT, can confirm this absolutely. It’s a case of finding private companies to funnel money to instead of actually creating capacity, all because of the incorrect illusion that the private sector is magically efficient.
  
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sepiroth154@feddit.nl ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Hey man, congrats on having a bigger ego than sense if responsibility.

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SabinStargem@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The only thing that is certain, is that the logistics chain of the F-35 can easily break down. It is best for the EU to rely on a chain that is fully within their custody.

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Gammelfisch@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The racist sack of shit, Hegseth, will have sick fucknut friend, Doug Wilson (Christian Nationalist), bless each F-35. I hope one of you posts the Pentagon Prayer service given by the fucking lunatics.

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hector@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Except the US has killswitches hard wired in. A fusible link, irreversibly bricking it based on signal from the mother ship.

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- Iconoclast@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Either you’re talking confidently about something you couldn’t possibly know, or you’re risking the rest of your life in prison for leaking top-secret military info. Which is it?
  
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- Squizzy@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Where is the support for this? I believe they would but as I understand it they cut cloud services, not core functionality.
  
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  - hector@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    It is a long standing rumour. Not just in these in a lot of their gear. I believe it.
    
    It’s also rumoured, going way back over 20 years, that the us has kill switches in a majority of the world’s computers.
    
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- MITM0@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Yes, but it can be wired-out
  
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  - hector@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    The way I heard it, it’s like hard wired it is thought, not like a part of the software per se, something physical in there they can trigger with a message that makes a circuit that bricks the unit.
    
    We don’t actually know though, I bet if someone did find out lockheed would have their head and the news wouldn’t touch it.
    
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MalReynolds@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Possible sure, easy unlikely, knowing you got all the backdoors (for allies), nigh impossible. Only way to be sure is to clean room it from the ground up, not jailbreak.

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- hector@lemmy.today ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Plus it’s strongly suspected, and rumoured, to have kill switches, a fusible link that bricks the whole thing. I believe it.
  
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  - boonhet@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    I mean every country that takes delivery of them gets to inspect it really closely. The “kill switch” is that they stop providing you the software for mission planning and shit.
    
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  - MalReynolds@slrpnk.net ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Why wouldn’t they?
    
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sepi@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Nah bro. Just run clawedbot on the thing and sell the compute on it. Imagine a server farm made of f35s making the most devastating memes with gemini bananas

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Overspark@piefed.social ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Relevant video: https://youtu.be/4X9ww6FtUhE?si=R5TCNF0lTho9kHWp

Tl;dw is that sure, the US could withhold software updates and sure, NL could do their own software thing, but there is a whole intelligence software thing too that makes it harder. And ultimately if the US stops supplying new parts the existing planes are quickly dead in the water anyway. So it’s a short-term solution at best.

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fierysparrow89@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
This is a ridiculus statement coming from a government official. Can’t imagine any other motivation than a clickbait equivalent intended to sling the topic in public limelight.

Given enough effort and time all software can be reverse engineered. So “jailbreaking” is plausible. But that is just one piece of this puzzel. Here is a more informed version www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X9ww6FtUhE

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- zalgotext@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  I don’t think a US Army/Air Force vet is going to have any less biased of a take than the a Dutch government official lmao
  
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  - fierysparrow89@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Besides the critique towards the person have you any insights as to which of his statements could be biased?
    
    I’m just going to leave this here for reference en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem
    
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ShotDonkey@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If you can jailbreak it, Tuinman, Vlad can jailbreak it.

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ohulancutash@feddit.uk ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
The F-35 mainly uses Pratt & Whitney engines; the RR engine is for the B variant.

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SocialMediaRefugee@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
“I installed some mobile app games on my plane.”

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chalupapocalypse@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Just open the fracking door for the cylons why don’t you

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ILikeBoobies@lemmy.ca ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
If you can buy USBs that brick when plugged into the wrong system then you can make your aircraft inoperable.

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nibbles@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Rolls Royce only makes the engines for the F35B STOVL version.

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- tehn00bi@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
  Ummm not completely correct. They make a part for that, but it’s still an f135 engine.
  
  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_LiftSystem
  
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  - nibbles@lemmy.ml ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
    Corrected
    
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redditmademedoit@piefed.zip ⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago
Sounds more like an admission that there is something that needs jailbreaking in the first place

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