Lesya Leshchenko17:10, 16.02.26

A Dutch official said the process of equipping American aircraft with European weapons was being held up by approval processes.

Dutch State Secretary for Defence Gijs Tuinman said the software on F-35 fighter jets could be hacked in a similar way to the iPhone.

According to The War Zone , the statement came amid questions to foreign operators of American aircraft about what would happen if the United States ceased support for the aircraft sold to allies. Tuinman’s response can be summarized as the fact that the software limitations of the American F-35 fighter jet can be circumvented to equip it with European weapons.

“I’m going to say something I should never say, but I’m going to say it anyway: You can jailbreak an F-35 just like you can jailbreak an iPhone,” Tuinman said.

Tuinman did not specify what the F-35 jailbreak process might entail. For iPhones, it means removing Apple’s restrictions, allowing users to gain full access to the file system and superuser privileges.

“It’s unclear whether he was referring to the aircraft’s cyber vulnerability, if any. He may have been speaking more nominally or figuratively about actions that could be taken in the future, if necessary,” the publication suggested.

According to the Dutch website BNR , Tuinman added that the deployment of European missiles on American aircraft in the Dutch Air Force’s fleet takes too long, and this is all due to the American software the aircraft are equipped with.

(C)UNIAN 2026