"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (3 Viewers)

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You fit in just fine.

As long as we learn it does not matter how much we individually contribute. Your contributions have been very good though.

I appreciate the kind words, but man, I'm keenly aware of how little I know here! It's why jokes are probably half my posts, lol. I may not post in the technical threads, but I sure as hell read them that interest me. I learn soooooo much.
 
russia is not a place but description of the special state of the mind - another thing confirming this
 
The F-35 is literally a flying force multiplier and will be very capable of assuming the A-10's role, but in a 21st century fashion.
IDK, the A-10 could be lost, and as long as the pilot recovered the ship could be forgotten. On the other hand, every time an F-35 is lost the operators have to make every effort to recover the aircraft. If HMS Ark Royal (R09) lost a US-supplied Phantom over the side, it was left behind. But drop a F-35 over the side or otherwise crash one, you'd better go get it. If the tech is that valuable how can the US give them to the Ukrainians to fly over Russian held territory? It's only a matter of time before one crashes somewhat intact and ends up in Russian (and China) hands.
 
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Wasn't there a massive security breach in which China got a lot of data on the F-35? The nose of the J-20 looks similar.
 
I would expect that since there is the capability for car manufacturers to disable a vehicle remotely should it be stolen then it is not
much of a jump for the makers of an F-35 to have remote capability to wipe the electrics of the plane in the same way.

It is even possible to have a remote destruct ability for the any of the onboard circuitry as well.
 

Too many risks and flaws with that approach. Here are just a few:

1. The disable/self destruct capability malfunctions while the aircraft is being flown by a friendly pilot.
2. Adversaries can jam the disable/self destruct signal.
3. There's more intelligence to be gained regarding the F-35 than simply exploring the software. There are materials, structures, detailed design techniques etc.
4. Implementing a remote disable/self destruct capability increases the cyber threat to the weapon system, increasing risk that a hostile actor will hack it and be able to destroy/disable all F-35s everywhere.
 
Reasonable worries for sure but the signal goes through a satellite system and is not by radio so hard to jam when you don't know it's coming.

A remote destruct system would also only be able to be set off, well, remotely which would also require a key coding in at least 128 bits which would be
matched to each individual aircraft. Not able to malfunction as such and could also be linked to the pilots system to ensure he/she is still functional so actually
disabling groups of F-35s would be impossible.

Number 3 is the worry though as physical damage must be done to the planes systems to render them unable to be reverse engineered. Chips as in ROM etc can be burnt out
using the correct system/s and they are the ones you want to make sure no one gets intact.

The only real worry for me is money. If someone in any air force which receives the F-35 is tempted or perhaps coerced then parts of the system may be handed over to
the wrong crowd. This kind of scenario is the worst as there is the possibility that the handover may not be known about. Still, that is the risk with anything like that.
 

Errr...SATCOM still use radio frequency signals and, yes, they can be jammed (and, in fact, are jammed). Russia has SATCOM jammers like the Krasukha:


The other challenge with satellites is ensuring you're within the footprint of coverage. Operate outside them and your kill-switch won't work.

It doesn't matter what type of key coding you use, any aircraft system is capable of malfunction, which is why you have back-up systems. Digitally wiping systems of software always leaves traces, and it takes time to execute. Physical destruction is faster but it involves explosives (or other mechanical means) and they can go off unexpectedly.

Given the amount of computing power available (e.g. bitcoin mining), I have little faith that key-based security is invulnerable to hacking. The only way to stop external users accessing a system is to not connect critical components to the outside world. A kill switch would require such an external connection...and it would be a big prize for any hostile hacker.
 
The 'annexation playbook:' Kirby, speaking from the White House briefing room, said that U.S. intelligence shows Russian plans to install "illegitimate" proxy officials in Ukraine and arrange "sham referendums" on becoming part of Russia. Russia is preparing to focus its efforts on Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and all of Donetsk and Luhansk, he said.

Kirby likened the "annexation playbook" to Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula, which triggered a wave of international sanctions.

He added that the timeline of Russia's annexation plans is unclear but that Moscow could put them in motion later this year, timed with regional elections. Russia's war in Ukraine is about to enter its sixth month.

Where the intelligence came from: Kirby told reporters Tuesday that the new assessment relied on both open-source information in the public domain and intelligence.

Russia has already installed officials in areas of Ukraine it controls, including Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, and there has long been chatter that Russia could move to annex Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's east, where Moscow's forces are currently focusing their military operations.

Asked about what was new about the information he was citing on Tuesday, Kirby declined to provide specifics but insisted there would be a "concerted effort" by the part of Russia.



Sounds like a good reason to extend sanctions indefinitely, to me.
 

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