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

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

Firstly, it's not just about the price of the drones being shot down - it's also about the price of whatever they were going to hit if you didn't stop them.

And secondly, that's entirely beside the point anyway. The Dutch need stealth fighters just as much as anyone else would.

What??? In earlier versions, we had to lift a couple of legs on the chips, a 50cm bodge wire, and finally shorting a capacitor while booting. Finally the write protection disabled, which allowed one to flash an older BIOS that allowed usb booting. The major downside was that it was a tethered jailbreak. But we made it work…except for the fly-aways.

Depends. You did schedule backups, right? Right?

I was picturing more like a custom ROM on XDA: "Bugs? You tell me."

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.

Even broke the warranty seal over the USB port.

It’s not dependent on constant software updates.

I bet every modern fighter jet is. "Dependent" might not be the best word, but if you can make your existing jet better just by optimizing the software, then of course they should.

It's probably true to say that F-35 is objectively better than a Gripen, but it's way more expensive too. More Gripens might actually be better than fewer F-35s. My understanding is they're more focused on electronic warfare.

Yes, but I can't get to them as they are on the jet.

Don't worry, fighterjetstockroms.xyz has you coverd. Just download the the ROM for your locale and start over again. One short warning, US versions on EU hardware could lead to unexpected behavior as the binary blops expect altitudes and speed measured in USCS and not in meters as the EU model sensors do.

What about replacement parts? Just cut your losses & get something not made by fascists.

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:

And a laptop with RS-232 running Windows XP (can be on a VM)

Constant software updates is like one of the main features SAAB boasts on it lol

These mainly aren't actually "engineer changes two lines of code" updates. These are actually more like internal database updates. Every time an F-35 or Gripen is flown, it generates data about itself and I believe also about the other planes it's up against. This gets synced to other F-35s (or Gripens) for their future missions.

That would seem like an awful idea that would be a dangerous security risk to the fighter.

So they probably did it anyway.

I'm having issues with this step, I can't seem to hold the eject button for the full 20 seconds I keep getting forcefully ejected to the boot screen.

I put the US fw on and it started to bomb brown people for oil. Is that intentional or a bug?

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?

I didn't know our state secretary was a Warthunder enthousiast.

Well, let me be the one to surprise you and tell you that this is exactly how software and encryption keys are loaded onto the aircraft.

At no time would any combat aircraft have an operating system which even has the capability to receive software updates wirelessly, that would be an incredible vulnerability during wartime.

It requires a specific device that looks like it was made in the 1980s and deletes itself if it is bumped too hard and this device has to be directly connected to NSA controlled infrastructure in order to be loaded with any updates. The resulting material is loaded onto the device and physically carried by an Airman in the wing's comm squadron and they are escorted by at least one other service member from the secure terminal where it was loaded directly to the aircraft.

It's uploaded via internal connections (which may or may not look to be from the 80s) which are accessed by a maintenance hatch on the belly of the plane. Once the hatch is closed, if it is opened again at any point the aircraft will dump all of the key material and the resulting party will have a lot of paperwork and counseling to deal with and some other set of airmen will have to repeat the entire process all over again.

This has to be done for pretty much every flight, the aircraft cannot even start without this package of key materials and software. This process is fairly standard and used on a lot of equipment, as most equipment needs keying materials to function due to all of the datalink and/or telemetry systems.

It is likely that the Secretary of Defense was referring to their understanding of how this system operates and how they have scientists and engineers and the resources to reverse engineer any components. They have intact and working copies that they can tear apart and none of these systems are magic, they're just secret and obtaining an intact war plane to reverse engineer is incredibly difficult in normal times. The Dutch have plenty of intact war planes to study.

Rolls Royce only makes the Lift System for the F35B STOVL version. All versions use a Pratt & Whitney F135 engine.

"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!"

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

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

Install Graphene on it lol

The racist sack of shit, Hegseth, will have his 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.

If I had the F-35 in my inventory, I would hire a bunch of hackers to prepare the aircraft's software for the just in case moment.

You wouldn't download a car fighter jet's custom firmware

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.

If you can jailbreak it, Tuinman, Vlad can jailbreak it.

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.

Ummm not completely correct. They make a part for that, but it’s still an f135 engine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce_LiftSystem

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.

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

Do you honestly think that all the countries buying these planes havent inspected them? Even if they were incredibly well disguised the chance of them being discovered would essentially stop the US from selling military hardware abroad again as it would be hard proof that they couldnt be trusted.

There is no reason to do that when, as others have pointed out, they can just restrict access to parts, updates and mission planning software.

You are misunderstanding the nature of these kill switches that are thought to be in there. It's not going to be labeled, and it's not going to be visible to inspection, but something no one would ever know if it never gets tripped. Thought to be a one time fusible link. Idk if it's true, but I believe it.

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.

Im not misunderstanding at all, but do you really think governments make multi-billion dollar purchaces without having technical experts go over things with a fine tooth comb. Again if only one customer nation, of which there are dozens, found something like this or if it was ever used, it would wipe out the entire export market for US high tech weapons, why would they do that when they have effective soft power ways of achiving the same thing?

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.

Manueverability matters less when you can fire a missile that will hit your opponent before they even know you are in the airspace.

Like I'm not trying to say the F35 is perfect, its far from it...

... But dogfights almost never happen anymore.

Air to air combat is basically # of missiles, range of missiles, threat detection/target acquisition vs stealth cpabilities.

And as we are seeing in Ukraine with drones, its very likely to become ... nearly Battle Star Galactica (Newer Reboot) style realtime cyberwarfare battles.

Like, if we ever get to the point of 'Space Battles', they're gonna be as much remote hacking contests as they involve any kind of physical weaponry.

What sounds better, LibreJet or Free35?

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!

Corrected

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) Question is why the fuck did we build it?

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.

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 the 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 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4X9ww6FtUhE

There is an argument smaller countries need stealth fighters more than big ones like America because there is a larger emphasis on each plane and pilot. Giving each pilot the competitive edge is necessary when you only have a few hundred pilots max, compared to the USA that has around 15,000.

Add some zeroes to that

Check budgetfighterforums.com

Honestly calling a country that can afford even a single F-35 small seems strange. And having only one doesn't make sense. You need to rotate them for maintenance, have a few up at once (at least 2) for basic tactics, so it seems having less than 8 fighters is just not enough. And then you need jet fuel, missiles, ground systems, avionics, radars, all up-to-date.

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