this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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381
'It's Possible to jailbreak F-35 like iPhone', Says Dutch State Secretary of Defense Tuinman (www.bnr.nl)
submitted 21 hours ago by Beep@lemmus.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
83 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

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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[–] hector@lemmy.today 0 points 19 hours ago (5 children)

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.

[–] tidderuuf@lemmy.world 3 points 17 hours ago

I remember working with an old dude 10 years ago who pointed at the CPU in a computer and said "the government can turn that off whenever they want". He died of COVID so take his quote with what value you want.

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 1 points 14 hours ago

I lean towards discounting both rumors. I think the temptation to use said kill-switches would prove too great to resist, particularly for the authoritarian types involved.

We saw this a lot with provisions of the "PATRIOT Act". It was championed as tools needed to combat terrorists and claimed to be reserved for such cases. In actuality, it was used to go after people running fan sites for sci-fi tv shows, among other things.

If such a kill switch existed in computer hardware, I'm sure it would have been used already. I'm less sure about a kill switch in the planes. On one hand, that's a pretty situational tool, and you wouldn't want to play that card until you really needed it.

OTOH, we didn't hear about threats to throw the kill switch during the bluster over Greenland. If they had one, I think it would have been part of that bluster.

[–] LesserAbe@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago

Wow if its rumoured it must be true

[–] Squizzy@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

Meh, they are whores but they dont produce shit. They get your information through invasive NSA actions and capitalist acumbaggery.

[–] ryannathans@aussie.zone 1 points 18 hours ago

Intel management engine strikes again