Summary
European nations refute claims that the U.S. has a “kill switch” for F-35 fighter jets, despite concerns raised after Trump suspended military aid and intelligence support to Ukraine.
While no evidence confirms such a switch, experts warn the U.S. could limit access to crucial software updates.
Belgium and Switzerland assert their F-35s remain autonomous but acknowledge reliance on U.S. data systems.
Set to receive 35 F-35s in 2026, some German politicians are questioning whether the purchase should have been made amid these concerns.
I hate to break it to you, but China already stole all the data on F-35s years ago: https://www.reuters.com/article/business/theft-of-f-35-design-data-is-helping-us-adversaries-pentagon-idUSL2N0EV0T3/
And yes, I’m sure a lot has changed since 2013, but there have been numerous breaches since then, so it’s silly to think they haven’t conducted similar espionage operations in more recent years.
I highly doubt that. The initial development phases of these things are so expensive and complicated. They probably dont change even a single screw unless it is absolutely necessary. All the replacement parts and repair training would be wasted if they constantly changed stuff.
Hardware wise, I doubt much, if anything at all, has changed. But software and firmware most certainly has been updated. Part of what makes these platforms so powerful is their anti-radar, auto-targeting, and auto-identification capabilities.
Having an actual functional f-35 to train against and have for testing countermeasures against would be very helpful though.