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"?
this post was submitted on 15 Feb 2026
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Fuck yeah I want to download a ~~car~~ jet
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Imagine the stock price once one her is confirmed hacked/kill switched. Every global ally 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
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
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.
I mean, can't they just create spare parts?
Vibe CNC
I hope they're working on their own firmware behind the scenes, or at least enough reverse engineering efforts to regain some autonomy
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.
Europe would be better off just developing their own weapons systems rather than trying to hack a 35.
Unfortunately being part of NATO means also having to buy American weapons.
That must come as news to the French that they arent allowed to do what they do in NATO.
NATO is one of those instances where I generally agree with Trump on the issue at hand, and then strongly disagree with him on the solutions to the issue.
Like going back to his first administration, I actually agreed with Trump that NATO is a bad deal for America, and also even a bad deal for the other NATO nations. But the solution back then should have been a slow 10-15 year dissolution of NATO. Give Europe time to reorganize themselves, and then end the cold war era alliance. If we has started that process in 2016, Europe would be ten years further along in their own self reliance.
(Where Trump got everything wrong was that instead of actually developing a realistic plan for the dissolution of NATO, he just used the threat of America immediately pulling out to extort our friends.)
The idea this is something to trust in... for something as serious as national defense is absurd.
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.
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.
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 (services & parts) from ... have control of the USA military, it's not just a matter of going to court.
Not even USA gov can get out of those same dodgy contacts.
Still, it's def an option that we need to have for all important infrastructure bits, military unfortunately included (but communication tech, power grid controls, personal computers & servers, manufacturing of crucial parts, etc are important too).