this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
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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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[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 10 points 1 hour ago (1 children)

Install Graphene on it lol

[–] Ghostie@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 hour ago

Graphene Devs: We can’t support it because it doesn’t have a Titan M Chip blah blah blah

[–] ShotDonkey@lemmy.world 1 points 17 minutes ago

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

[–] Gammelfisch@lemmy.world 5 points 1 hour ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

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.

[–] SabinStargem@lemmy.today 2 points 43 minutes 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.

[–] Not_mikey@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 2 hours 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

[–] Akasazh@lemmy.world 15 points 4 hours ago

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

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 15 points 4 hours 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?

[–] Ek-Hou-Van-Braai@piefed.social 39 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

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

[–] squaresinger@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

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

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 11 points 5 hours ago

Even broke the warranty seal over the USB port.

[–] Jaysyn@lemmy.world 9 points 4 hours ago

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

[–] TheReturnOfPEB@reddthat.com 41 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 7 hours ago) (4 children)

imagine flying a jailbroken fighter plane that gets an over-the-air update that bricks the controls

just get the gripen

[–] cecilkorik@piefed.ca 5 points 3 hours 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!"

[–] Soup@lemmy.world 20 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Something tells me fighter planes don’t get updates from anything other than a computer plugged directly into them.

[–] RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world 9 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

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

So they probably did it anyway.

[–] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 6 points 3 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago)

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.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 9 points 4 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours 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:

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

tbf, that can happen without jailbreaking

[–] DoPeopleLookHere@sh.itjust.works 3 points 7 hours ago* (last edited 3 hours ago) (2 children)

Can you elaborate on the Gripen?

Edit: my ore-coffee dyslexic ass read just like the Gripen.

I fully support Canada getting manufacturing here..

[–] BigDanishGuy@sh.itjust.works 11 points 7 hours ago (2 children)

It's a fighter jet. It's made in Sweden. It costs about 80% in purchase price and 50% per flight hour compared to the f35. It's not dependent on constant software updates.

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 6 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

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.

[–] boonhet@sopuli.xyz 3 points 4 hours ago

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.

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[–] Chivera@lemmy.world 26 points 9 hours ago (1 children)
[–] talentedkiwi@sh.itjust.works 39 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

In the most literal sense.

[–] MatSeFi@lemmy.liebeleu.de 105 points 11 hours ago (4 children)

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."```
[–] edgemaster72@lemmy.world 2 points 47 minutes ago

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

[–] stealth_cookies@lemmy.ca 10 points 5 hours ago

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

[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 7 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (2 children)

Flashing failed 5 minutes in, and now an upside down jet with a big yellow ! coming out of the belly is on the screen. Did I brick my F-35 or is it recoverable?

[–] MatSeFi@lemmy.liebeleu.de 8 points 6 hours ago

Depends on your altitude..

[–] SayJess@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

Depends. You did schedule backups, right? Right?

[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

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

[–] MatSeFi@lemmy.liebeleu.de 3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

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.

[–] Sabata11792@ani.social 3 points 4 hours ago

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

[–] Winter_Oven@piefed.social 20 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

tell me more about the "Fly-Away" scenarios

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[–] sepi@piefed.social 4 points 6 hours 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

[–] tabular@lemmy.world 33 points 10 hours ago

Right to repair my F-35!

[–] chalupapocalypse@lemmy.world 3 points 6 hours ago

Just open the fracking door for the cylons why don't you

[–] Emi@ani.social 39 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

And here I thought the military would want their stuff to work without software updates and be open source.

[–] Humanius@lemmy.world 23 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (11 children)

The military wants the best equipment, and currently in terms of specs that is the F-35.

That comes with a dependence on the United States, which at the time of purchasing these jets 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.

At this point for the purchase of new jets we really should be looking at the new Eurofighter though, imo

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