Quote:
Originally Posted by speede5
Way to late in the game to do that. It's pretty big stretch to say they would be able to disable the aircraft, it would be pretty nefarious to sneak a 'kill switch' through the certification process.
The bigger threat would be killing any compatible support systems that feed information to the aircraft, which wouldn't necessarily brick it but it would have to operate in somewhat of a vacuum. One of the main reasons we picked this aircraft was to be able to operate in a shared environment with our allies and that could be compromised from the outside.
Probably worse, they could cut off logistics support for the aircraft, which would handcuff us in no time.
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That's why I put kill switch in quotes. It's not a true kill switch in the conventional sense. They have the power to deny future software upgrades though that would render the jet less effective. If the U.S. was a reliable and loyal ally, it wouldn't be a big deal, but with Trump in power, it's a risk. It's one more thing that they can hold over your head to push you around.