An official at a German arms company has suggested F-35 fighter jets could be deactivated using a so-called “kill switch”. The ability of the US to disable the American-made fifth-generation fighter jets, which are also used by the UK as well as several other nations, has long been speculated but unconfirmed.
However, the head of communications at the German arms company Hensoldt claimed to Germany’s Bild newspaper the “kill switch in the F-35 is more than just a rumour”. Germany is set to receive 35 of the advanced fighter jets from next year in a deal worth around £7 billion. The US has stopped providing military aid to Kyiv and, on Saturday, reports emerged that American-supplied F-16s had stopped working in Ukraine.
But this is said to have been because of the suspension of critical support for radar systems, rather than the jets being “switched off”.
Former chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Wolfgang Ischinger, told Bild: “If we have to fear that the USA could do with future German F-35s what they are currently doing with Ukraine, we could consider terminating the contract.”
Both Switzerland and Belgium have denied reports suggesting the US could jam F-35s.
Belgium’s chief of defence, General Frederik Vansina, said the F-35 “is not a remote-controlled aircraft”.
Europe is heavily reliant on American-made weapons and systems, and there are growing concerns over the Trump administration’s commitment to the continent.
Former Conservative defence secretary, Sir Ben Wallace, told the Financial Times that if he were still in the post, his first response would have been to commission “an appraisal of our dependencies and vulnerabilities across international partners — including the US”.
He said this would allow reflection “on whether there needs to be any strategic changes”.
Britain flies the B F-35 variant, which operates from land and the Royal Navy’s Queen-Elizabeth class aircraft carriers.
The UK is set to have 48 of the stealth fighters by the end of the year.
The Daily Express has approached the Ministry of Defence for a comment.