F-35 Software Could Be Jailbreaked Like an IPhone: Dutch Defense Minister (twz.com) 87
Lockheed Martin's F-35 combat aircraft is a supersonic stealth "strike fighter." But this week the military news site TWZ reports that the fighter's "computer brain," including "its cloud-based components, could be cracked to accept third-party software updates, just like 'jailbreaking' a cellphone, according to the Dutch State Secretary for Defense."
TWZ notes that the Dutch defense secretary made the remarks during an episode of BNR Nieuwsradio's "Boekestijn en de Wijk" podcast, according to a machine translation: Gijs Tuinman, who has been State Secretary for Defense in the Netherlands since 2024, does not appear to have offered any further details about what the jailbreaking process might entail. What, if any, cyber vulnerabilities this might indicate is also unclear. It is possible that he may have been speaking more notionally or figuratively about action that could be taken in the future, if necessary...
The ALIS/ODIN network is designed to handle much more than just software updates and logistical data. It is also the port used to upload mission data packages containing highly sensitive planning information, including details about enemy air defenses and other intelligence, onto F-35s before missions and to download intelligence and other data after a sortie. To date, Israel is the only country known to have successfully negotiated a deal giving it the right to install domestically-developed software onto its F-35Is, as well as otherwise operate its jets outside of the ALIS/ODIN network.
The comments "underscore larger issues surrounding the F-35 program, especially for foreign operators," the article points out. But at the same time F-35's have a sophisticated mission-planning data package. "So while jailbreaking F-35's onboard computers, as well as other aspects of the ALIS/ODIN network, may technically be feasible, there are immediate questions about the ability to independently recreate the critical mission planning and other support it provides. This is also just one aspect of what is necessary to keep the jets flying, let alone operationally relevant."
"TWZ previously explored many of these same issues in detail last year, amid a flurry of reports about the possibility that F-35s have some type of discreet 'kill switch' built in that U.S. authorities could use to remotely disable the jets. Rumors of this capability are not new and remain completely unsubstantiated." At that time, we stressed that a 'kill switch' would not even be necessary to hobble F-35s in foreign service. At present, the jets are heavily dependent on U.S.-centric maintenance and logistics chains that are subject to American export controls and agreements with manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Just reliably sourcing spare parts has been a huge challenge for the U.S. military itself... F-35s would be quickly grounded without this sustainment support. [A cutoff in spare parts and support"would leave jailbroken jets quickly bricked on the ground," the article notes later.] Altogether, any kind of jailbreaking of the F-35's systems would come with a serious risk of legal action by Lockheed Martin and additional friction with the U.S. government.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Koreantoast for sharing the article.
TWZ notes that the Dutch defense secretary made the remarks during an episode of BNR Nieuwsradio's "Boekestijn en de Wijk" podcast, according to a machine translation: Gijs Tuinman, who has been State Secretary for Defense in the Netherlands since 2024, does not appear to have offered any further details about what the jailbreaking process might entail. What, if any, cyber vulnerabilities this might indicate is also unclear. It is possible that he may have been speaking more notionally or figuratively about action that could be taken in the future, if necessary...
The ALIS/ODIN network is designed to handle much more than just software updates and logistical data. It is also the port used to upload mission data packages containing highly sensitive planning information, including details about enemy air defenses and other intelligence, onto F-35s before missions and to download intelligence and other data after a sortie. To date, Israel is the only country known to have successfully negotiated a deal giving it the right to install domestically-developed software onto its F-35Is, as well as otherwise operate its jets outside of the ALIS/ODIN network.
The comments "underscore larger issues surrounding the F-35 program, especially for foreign operators," the article points out. But at the same time F-35's have a sophisticated mission-planning data package. "So while jailbreaking F-35's onboard computers, as well as other aspects of the ALIS/ODIN network, may technically be feasible, there are immediate questions about the ability to independently recreate the critical mission planning and other support it provides. This is also just one aspect of what is necessary to keep the jets flying, let alone operationally relevant."
"TWZ previously explored many of these same issues in detail last year, amid a flurry of reports about the possibility that F-35s have some type of discreet 'kill switch' built in that U.S. authorities could use to remotely disable the jets. Rumors of this capability are not new and remain completely unsubstantiated." At that time, we stressed that a 'kill switch' would not even be necessary to hobble F-35s in foreign service. At present, the jets are heavily dependent on U.S.-centric maintenance and logistics chains that are subject to American export controls and agreements with manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Just reliably sourcing spare parts has been a huge challenge for the U.S. military itself... F-35s would be quickly grounded without this sustainment support. [A cutoff in spare parts and support"would leave jailbroken jets quickly bricked on the ground," the article notes later.] Altogether, any kind of jailbreaking of the F-35's systems would come with a serious risk of legal action by Lockheed Martin and additional friction with the U.S. government.
Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader Koreantoast for sharing the article.
"Like an iphone" is a bit dissatisfactory (Score:2)
Especially for a product that my taxes go into. I would have preferred it was "like a xiaomi" or "like a samsung from a few years back" or "like a supported sony" or something rather than this.
A) No. B) stupid (Score:1)
A) The iPhone is both a well recognized brand, designed by a US company, and a product that has never had the option to load an alternative firmware.
B) If this is your primary concern then you're an idiot.
Re: (Score:2)
My primary concern is a vendor-approved manner to load own firmware on my hardware.
I don't need junk that doesn't have it.
As to whether I'm an idiot or not that is not an observation a creature of a less developed species can make.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Indeed. You could hack one to finally stop ignoring the UFOs that come in peace.
Sci Fi Media (Score:4, Interesting)
What's changed where communication with the cloud is now necessary for such fighter craft operation? Wikipedia answers that question - incompetence with developing software causing more incompetence by recommending a cloud based replacement:
The F-35 was initially supported by a computerized maintenance management system named Autonomic Logistics Information System (ALIS). In concept, any F-35 can be serviced at any maintenance facility and all parts can be globally tracked and shared as needed. Due to numerous problems,such as unreliable diagnoses, excessive connectivity requirements, and security vulnerabilities, ALIS is being replaced by the cloud-based Operational Data Integrated Network (ODIN). From September 2020, ODIN base kits (OBKs) were running ALIS software, as well as ODIN software, first at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Yuma, Arizona, then at Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, in support of Strike Fighter Squadron (VFA) 125 on 16 July 2021, and then Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, in support of the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (TES) on 6 August 2021. In 2022, over a dozen more OBK sites will replace the ALIS's Standard Operating Unit unclassified (SOU-U) servers. OBK performance is double that of ALIS.
Re: Sci Fi Media (Score:2)
Right... So the first system was a bust and now they're building another just like it for all our taxpayer money.
Re:Sci Fi Media (Score:5, Funny)
I too remember when presidents were competent enough to fly a fighter jet.
Re: (Score:2)
W?
Re: (Score:2)
Always always always remember that Loki can beat Odin.
Re: (Score:2)
There was also a tv series wherein the latest and greatest fighters were immobilized and destroyed because their fancy, state of the art systems were hacked and disabled.
Whereas, an older generation of fighters which operated on more analog principles were unaffected and able to fight back.
Re: (Score:2)
I'm curious about the "OBK performance is double that of ALIS.". What performance metric is that? Sounds like 'executive summary" material to me.
Root Cause. (Score:5, Insightful)
To date, Israel is the only country known to have successfully negotiated a deal giving it the right to install domestically-developed software onto its F-35Is, as well as otherwise operate its jets outside of the ALIS/ODIN network.
A "jailbroken" F-35 "side-loading" "dangerous" software under an Israeli contract in the world of litigation is called fully fucking legal and accepted by all parties involved.
I'm thinking if Lockheed didn't want to accept that risk no matter what, they would have never negotiated a deal like that. And yet, they did. So, who was ultimately responsible for advertising a jailbreak sideloading capability on the F-35?
A 12-year old can "jam" the radar unit of an F-35 too..if they use enough raspberry. - Lone Starr
Re:Root Cause. (Score:5, Interesting)
The root cause is a dementia patient rambling about Greenland.
If this was someones grandfather we'd all laugh and take away his car keys. The problem is grandpa leads a military and a dangerous cult.
Re:Root Cause. (Score:5, Informative)
Greenland ownership has been a military point of contention and debate since Eisenhowers time. We already have military bases there, and it's already a NATO member. The US has made purchases like this before (Virgin Islands) and for similar reasons. Many former US leaders have had this discussion. Trump doesn't mind backing away from the harder discussions and decisions.
Purchases? Denmark says Greenland is simply not for sale. They told a petulant man baby no and he's throwing a tantrum. https://www.motherjones.com/po... [motherjones.com]
Ironically enough a Democrat leader doing this would be labeled as wise and compared to Eisenhower.
I don't know any democrats who would be cheering for a president to threaten to take away territory.
Oh, and speaking of actual incompetence, the reason America has President Trump again was because those infected with long-TDS decided to hand the car keys over to President Autopen and the Open Border Czar, who DEI-crafted the clusterfuck America is dealing with today.
Ah yes MAGA logic. You voted for this guy and you know he's fucking everything up but you claim its MY fault. The autopen rants are comical at best. Do you think that fat bloated hand held onto a sharpie and pardoned 1600 January 6th criminals? Fuck no he didn't. In fact here he is on video saying he uses the autopen https://www.newsweek.com/donal... [newsweek.com]
The problem is we actually have no fucking idea how much harm was done by the last administration,
Exactly nothing. It was a boring four years which meant he did his job and didn't rant at 3am on his personal social media network.
and Joe Dementia sure as shit doesn't recall. You, I, or the rest of the US population didn't attend a Top Secret classified debrief on the state of global affairs after being sworn in as the leader of a country. What we do know is the Kackler in Chief would have kept the US border wide open to harm and funded another $10 billion in taxpayer money to ensure the non-existent children in Minnesota day cares have a fully funded learing opportunity.
I'll leave you with a direct quote of the orange one. You can infer his mental capacity.
“You know, the new thing is magnets. So instead of using hydraulic that can be hit by lightning and it’s fine. You take a little glass of water, you drop it on magnets, I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Trump said.
“So, you know, the elevators come up in the new carriers—I think I’m going to change it, by the way—they have magnets. Every tractor has hydraulic, every excavator, every excavating machine of any kind has hydraulic. But somebody decided to use magnets.”
“I’m going to sign an executive order. When we build aircraft carriers, it’s steam for the catapults and it’s hydraulic for the elevators. We’ll never have a problem,” Trump said. “He agrees. Everybody agrees. But, ahh, these people in Washington.”
“You know, China intelligently went and they sort of took a monopoly of the world’s magnets, and nobody needed magnets until they convinced everybody 20 years ago, ‘Let’s all do magnets,’” Trump said. “There were many other ways that the world could have gone.”
“They have all magnetic elevators to lift up 25 planes at a time, 20 planes at a time. And instead of using hydraulic, like on tractors that can handle anything from hurricanes to lightning to anything, they use magnets,” Trump said. “It’s a new theory. Magnets are going to lift the planes up, and it doesn’t work. And they had billions and billions of dollars of cost overruns.”
And you stood up and clapped after hearing that.
Re: (Score:2)
Now talk about England and the USA.
Re:Root Cause. (Score:5, Informative)
What you are missing is that Greenlanders themselves have, in no uncertain terms, told the USA to fuck off.
Re: (Score:1, Troll)
They apparently aren't thrilled about being ruled by European colonizers either.
Re:Root Cause. (Score:5, Informative)
A 2025 poll showed that a majority 84% of Greenlanders would support independence from Denmark, with 9% opposing. 61% opposed independence if it meant a lower standard of living, with 39% in favour. When asked in a binary choice between the USA and Denmark, 85% preferred to be part of Denmark with only 6% preferring the USA..
The Poll [euractiv.com]
Re: Root Cause. (Score:2)
The original native greenlanders were wiped out by the current greenlanders 600 years ago. Not by Europeans
Re: (Score:2)
OK, then I propose all non-Indigenous people in the USA (that is, anyone who cannot trace their ancestry in the USA back more than 1000 years) should be kicked out for committing genocide against the people who were here before them.
Do you even realize how ridiculous you sound? "Oh, Europeans colonized Greenland, so the way to remedy that is for the USA to invade it."
Re: (Score:3)
Greenland is a welfare state. But very little of this is directly related to software vulnerabilities in the F-35 so...
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Be careful interpreting these polls. People often say they would like to break away from something as a sort of protest because they think they aren't getting enough love from that government. Sometimes the protest ends up causing them to actually break away, e.g. Brexit, and it turns out to be catastrophic.
Hopefully Greenlanders would not make that mistake.
Re: (Score:2)
I'll concede it's my own personal conspiracy theory, but, I feel like the numbers you're talking about are part of a picture a lot of people are missing that to me suggests that the US and Denmark are playing kayfabe for Greenland. Before there was an increasing number of Greenlanders that wanted independence. Then Trump started rattling a saber, and Greenlanders started seeing a choice between Denmark and the US instead of Denmark and independence. I think both Denmark AND the US both care very little abou
Re:Root Cause. (Score:4, Interesting)
They don't. Greenlanders are something like 95% against being acquired by the US. Denmark, and the rest of NATO, is supporting them.
Re: (Score:2)
It's an autonomous territory of Denmark, which is one of the reasons Denmark doesn't want to sell it. They recognize that they can't. As for Greenland itself, the people there don't want to sell either.
Re: Root Cause. (Score:2)
Ok so, I have no dog in the fight - not American, but you side stepped every single argument there with some weird rants and quotes.
Every sane person in the world knows Biden was mentally unfit and a disaster for the US and that Trump is only a moderately better and a disaster for the whole world. But good for Americans. At least he has a chance to reclaim your democracy & political system hijacked by illegal voters and islamic jihadis to avoid the imminent fate of UK and many parts of EU.
Re: (Score:2)
As a Briton, I don't recognise anything you just said. I think I can disagree with every sentence you wrote.
Re: (Score:2)
It was difficult to tell with his thick Russian accent.
Re: (Score:2)
His son was Leif Erikson who became the first Norseman to explore the land of Vinland, i.e. coastal North America, way before Christopher Columbus.
A statue of him was erected in Chicago in 1901.
Re: (Score:2)
He and his people got genocided by Inuit. 100% genocide rate. They're all dead.
It's just Inuits and Danes that came after there nowadays.
Re: Root Cause. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Vikings lived in Greenland until around 14xx, and the reason for the declining population is debated by historians, but is l
Re: (Score:1)
LOL, the MAGA Kool-Aid drinkers are so predictable. Cult indeed. They all have TDS: Trump Dick-sucking Syndrome.
Re:Root Cause. (Score:5, Informative)
The US has made purchases like this before (Virgin Islands) and for similar reasons.
Since you pointed this out, I have to point out the amazing hypocrisy. The purchase you're talking about is the Treaty of the Danish West Indies. Note: "Danish". As in the country that Greenland is an autonomous territory of. In that treaty, the US very explicitly gave up any potential claim to Greenland and recognized Danish sovereignty. Yet, somehow, we're still in a place where the US has already reneged on that treaty. Trump has already repeatedly questioned the idea that the US does not have a claim to Greenland.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Whatever systems are in place to remotely disable F-35s, I'm sure the European air forces and navies buying them have already figured out how to remove or bypass them. Not that Europe doesn't have its own cutting edge jets.
Re: (Score:2)
The Gripen is an excellent aircraft, as is the Eurofighter. I think the decision to buy the F-35 was more political than practical. Keep the US on side and sharing data. Can't really rely on that anymore.
Re: (Score:2)
Why wouldn't it? The F-35 is a multirole fighter/bomber. Even an F-22 should be able to down it.
Re: (Score:2)
.... jailbroken .....
Thank you. I don't know why the modern tech world can't make an attempt at fitting it's terminology to the basics of Enlgish grammar.
Cloud Components (Score:2)
Man... seriously. Who the f... approved this? Fighter jets should be completely self-sufficient to be 100.00% reliable in combat, especially in remote locations, and for prolonged amount of time.
Re: Cloud Components (Score:1)
Military systems have had electronic data links since before it was cool.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
In fact, militaries the world over have had entire organizational units devoted to battlefield communication since professional militaries became a thing. A standalone combat unit cut off from communication is not particularly useful, is it now?
Cool (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Why bother? All you need to do is to DNAT at an intermediate point and identify a nearby doughnut shop as a repair facility. The F35s will then land there and you can reprogram them whilst the pilots are stuffing themselves.
Oh. No. Wait. That's cops. Cops don't use F35s (yet).
no need for adervsary to trouble themselves (Score:3)
All an adversary need do is plant a few new stories on State Regime Media (Fox) about how the F-35 is being "misused" by one of the U.S. "partners". la Presidenta is sure to see it and start throwing his toys out of the pram again and order the Tetragon (the Fox host running the joint lost a side. but he clams its is around somewhere) to brick a "partner's" F-35.
Shortly thereafter, the "partner" will breath a sigh of relief and go shopping elsewhere so that Lockheed-Martin can go and suck eggs.
Inappropriate design (Score:1)
I hope Canada cancels her F-35 contract.
A single-engine fighter is completely inappropriate to defend an area as vast as the great white north.
--
Closed weekends and holidays.
Re: (Score:1)
Yes. That really was a particularly retarded idea.
Stealth is most useful for offensive action and Canada isn't likely to be attacking anyone who hs air defences. Canada needs something that can survive losing an engine over the Arctic, not something designed to attack the USSR.
Re: (Score:2)
I agree that it's foolhardy for Canada to rely on American fighters, seeing as the USA is currently the biggest threat to Canadian sovereignty. Unfortunately, we've already paid for a bunch of the F-35s and we'll be stuck with those. But I really hope we also buy Gripens.
"cloud-based components"?! (Score:3)
Perhaps I'm not understanding the exact nature of the "cloud-based components" but that 100% sounds like a single point of failure for an enemy to disable every F-35 or at the very least sabotage them into being wholly ineffective. I now understand why there were concerns about a kill switch.
While, I do understand why countries didn't initially consider this a problem, as US leadership was rational, I don't understand why they have not been working on reverse engineering the whole thing since at least 2018. It entirely unfathomable why they would have bought more without the capability to use their own software. It would seem the deal-makers failed to recognize an obvious vulnerability.
This whole situation reflects the exact issue people have with closed-source software: you will get updates when and if it's convenient to the developer... or maybe you will for you to buy a the new version.
Re: (Score:2)
Everything is like this now. The diagnostic devices for high end cars all need to phone home to make sure the person scanning codes is "authorized". I live in a state with yearly vehicle inspections and the inspection machine plugs into my car and verifies the VIN with the state's database.
Re: (Score:2)
They did consider it a problem. Buying hardware from a reasonably reliable ally in order to keep that ally happy was considered worth the risk. It isn't anymore.
There's not a lot of point in reverse engineering it. Probably a kill switch doesn't exist, but probably one could be made, the same way you
Jailbreaked? (Score:5, Informative)
Jailbroken.
Lucky for that new EU directive! (Score:2)
The one that prefers sources in the EU for military contracts.
There is no need to feed a competitor and maybe enemy, which is what the US has become.
If you know anyone in defense industries (Score:2)
This is Europe getting ready to kick America out of their defense industry because we have shown we are no longer trustworthy after threatening to invade Greenland.
What Trump initially was trying to do was force Europe to give him some land and also to buy more weapons. That's because he's running the government like a business and that's just not how the world works. The government is not a busin
Re: (Score:2)
Since when did you care about defense contractors?
Re: (Score:2)
It's also comical when you look up the numbers and learn that Europe has something like twice as many troops as the US, more tanks, more artillery, more of pretty much everything that's relevant to actually defending Europe.
The idea that Europe is weak is propaganda or, at best, based on a naive comparison of spending. The US military is extremely expensive because it's based around the ability to project offensive power anywhere in the world on short notice, including in places where there's no friendly su
Re: (Score:2)
That's also the EU, so it excludes the UK and Sweden.
Price is really a terrible way to compare military strength. Finland's entire military budget is less than $7 billion USD a year for 280k active members and 900k reserves. That's about what the US is spending on upgrading Guam's missile defences, or about half what it's costing to station 5000 marines there.
Re: (Score:1)
Well, the link compares troops and material.
Many things are on par or Europe has more.
Of course your example of Finland makes sense. Some countries have specific problems, and their forces are structured around them.
Finland is huge, and sparsely populated, somehow the population has the political will to stay long term in military reserve. Switzerland is similar, but the numbers are much lower.
Re: (Score:2)
No, your link is great. Thanks for sharing it. I was referring to the American habit of comparing everyone's military based on their exhorbitant spending (on their credit card).
Re: (Score:1)
Ah, I get it now :D
here's a theory (Score:1)
Cyberpunk Story (Score:1)
So we can hijack them in mid f(l)ight?
So you need hardware access? (Score:1)
ok then. nothing new.
Re: (Score:2)
It'll be an issue if/when a hostile power (China) manages to capture an intact F-35.
Soon the next headline will be.. (Score:2)
"Man accidentally takes over entire fleet of F-35s with his video game remote."
context (Score:2)
This may be a vulnerability, but it is addressible, and not one targeting an aircraft not sporting 1980s canards.
Tethered jailbreak or un-tethered (Score:1)
Connecting your F-35 to your laptop might not be that practical
Unsubstantiated? (Score:2)
Please. The kill switch is a guaranteed feature. There is no way it isn't there. This is one if those times where only a stupid person believes otherwise.
Hangar queens (Score:2)
Demonstrating the failure of US education (Score:2)
JAIL*BROKEN*, not jailbraked.
And, hopefully, doing that will enable them to remove the kill switch.