this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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431
'It's Possible to jailbreak F-35 like iPhone', Says Dutch State Secretary of Defense Tuinman (www.bnr.nl)
submitted 3 weeks ago by Beep@lemmus.org to c/technology@lemmy.world
118 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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[–] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 52 points 3 weeks ago (3 children)

I don't want to be the guy to tell my boss I've bricked the F-35

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 13 points 3 weeks ago

Even broke the warranty seal over the USB port.

[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 5 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (3 children)

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. It could be a $5000 setback... But whatever.

[–] hcbxzz@lemmy.world 4 points 3 weeks ago

You're assuming they'll still sell you parts after you tried to bypass the locks

[–] elucubra@sopuli.xyz 3 points 3 weeks ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Cocodapuf@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

The idea that $5000 will pay for replacing a core component or system is just plain preposterous.

A flash memory chip is a flash memory chip, whether it's part of a USB stick or soldered to a custom board. You don't need to replace the custom board, you need to solder on a new memory chip that contains the instructions you want it to.

[–] Zamboni_Driver@lemmy.ca 1 points 3 weeks ago

Add some zeroes to that

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 3 weeks ago

Yeah, that's not a job I'd be comfortable doing.