Addressing the F-35’s operational independence from the U.S. amid tensions between Europe and the Trump administration, Secretary Gijs Tuinman made the declare to Dutch radio station BNR Nieuwsradio.
The daring declare, the veracity of which is unverifiable from an out of doors perspective, got here as a part of a wider dialogue over the operational independence of the F-35 Lightning II – now the Netherlands’ solely fighter plane.
Tuinman, who turned State Secretary for Defence in July 2024, to start with reassured that, regardless of a rift opening between the present U.S. Authorities and plenty of European nations, the jury continues to be very a lot out on whether or not any strikes – which might probably take the type of interrupting the availability chain and/or halting software program updates – could be made that threatens the continued operation of the F-35.
BIG: Dutch Defence Minister Gijs Tuinman hints that software program independence is feasible for F-35 jets.
He actually stated you’ll be able to “jailbreak” an F-35.
When requested if Europe can modify it with out US approval:
“That’s not the purpose… we’ll see whether or not the Individuals will present… pic.twitter.com/f11cGvtYsO
— Conflict Report (@clashreport) February 15, 2026
We reported beforehand on this topic, stating that the simplistic ‘kill change’ idea that many declare the U.S. has for F-35s is nearly actually fiction, however noting that reliance on the U.S. for the plane’s software program updates, the very important mission information recordsdata (MDFs), and the delicate upkeep and provide chain system might current vulnerabilities with out long run U.S. help.
Not actually wanted. However in time of disaster it’s very important to replace the top-level software program, the mission information file (MDF). And on the F-35, this will solely be accomplished in a USAF lab at Eglin AFB.
— Invoice Sweetman (@ValkStrategy) March 14, 2025
Arguably, any such motion by the U.S. Authorities would finally be dangerous to its personal pursuits, damaging the repute of abroad gross sales of U.S. made merchandise maybe for good and making Europe’s total air defences susceptible and extra reliant on U.S. intervention – one thing that the U.S. has repeatedly sought the alternative of.
Nevertheless, Tuinman then went on to say that if the worst case situation does come to fruition he believes that, by unknown means, the F-35’s software program could possibly be altered with out permission by third social gathering operators. He in contrast this on to ‘jailbreaking’ an iPhone, a course of which permits finish customers to entry options on iOS units that aren’t often allowed by Apple’s personal software program at the price of theoretically voiding the machine’s guarantee and opening up the danger of safety vulnerabilities or software program malfunctions.
It’s not possible to know whether or not Tuinman’s claims are correct or not, nor the place his data originated. It might have been relayed to him purely as a speculative endeavor, with precise work on figuring out the idea’s feasibility but to be undertaken. He explicitly refused to dive into any additional element on the topic, even noting that apparently it’s not a topic he’s supposed to talk on in any respect.
Given the rise in U.S.-Europe tensions, it will not be shocking that on a minimum of some degree this eventuality could have been thought of by finish customers. Certainly, on some degree, even throughout instances of excellent relations these sorts of contingency plans are sometimes developed simply in case they could be wanted. This being stated, the complexity of the F-35’s supply code – comprising over 8 million traces of code – and the probably in depth safety measures undertaken to maintain it safe and unmodified signifies that such a job would nearly actually be removed from easy.
F-35 Software program Complexities
There are conflicting statements throughout the lifetime of the F-35 program across the quantity of entry shut allies should the plane’s supply code. Of any operators, the closest any come to this degree of entry are the UK – who had been the one Stage 1 associate throughout the plane’s growth, and the house of BAE Programs who authored components of the supply code – and Israel, who uniquely have the consent to independently modify and improve sure components of their nation-specific F-35I ‘Adir’ variant. Some code entry was reportedly provided to Japan in 2019. The Netherlands, a Stage 2 associate, just isn’t recognized to have had any direct entry.
In addition to being a posh technical enterprise, if a nation did make unauthorised adjustments to their F-35 plane they could then be excluded from additional official developments and upgrades ought to they turn out to be accessible once more. Over the long run, this might depart the plane basically frozen of their present configuration and unable to be tailored with new weapons, sensors, or different applied sciences. Crucially, entry to up to date MDFs may be restricted, making the plane unable to accurately establish and shield itself from newer tools operated by adversaries.
There isn’t a assure that even when the plane could possibly be ‘jailbroken’ as Tuinman prompt that important adjustments or upgrades could possibly be made independently with out the intrinsic information of the plane and its programs accessible to the unique producers. Importantly, additionally, this software program ‘repair’ wouldn’t mitigate the consequences of a freeze within the bodily provide chain. Whereas some F-35 components are made in Europe by the Netherlands and its allies, many components are made solely in the USA. European manufacturing traces do deal with remaining meeting for the F-35 in addition to its F135 engine, however these traces depend on particular person elements being shipped throughout the Atlantic first.
This advanced provide chain includes nations everywhere in the world feeding right into a central hub of spares and assets that’s then coordinated and shipped to numerous operators with the help of the ALIS and ODIN programs. Nations manufacturing components for the F-35 merely ship them to world provide chain and remaining supply is then carried out to any location at any time it’s required. This coordinated system is why quite a few nations have resisted campaigns to limit their provides of F-35 components to Israel, as this might merely not be potential in the way in which that the F-35 program operates.
