F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with engineers before crash

Re:F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with e... by jWhick on Wednesday August 27, 2025 @09:49AM (#45039645)

I'm wondering why these days, when my washing machine has an internet connection, they can't take over control of a plane remotely. I guess it could be considered a security vulnerability, however i'm quite sure it could be done securely. Like let the pilot eject and you try to land a plane with remote control

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Re:F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with e... by hypeatei on Wednesday August 27, 2025 @10:05AM (#45039904)

That would require even more R&D to maybe be useful in a rare situation. Like you mentioned, the vulnerability surface would increase. The last you thing you'd want is a remote control vuln being discovered in your $200M jet during a conflict.

That and I'm not sure what an ejection actually means for the planes internals i.e. is it even guaranteed the electronic components won't be damaged?

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Re:F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with e... by MBCook on Wednesday August 27, 2025 @09:55AM (#45039725)

The article said the plane had become uncontrollable and that’s why the pilot had to eject.

So even if remote control was possible I’m not sure it would’ve done any good.

Of course I also don’t know why the plane would be allowed to think that it’s in ground mode when it’s 100s of feet or more in the air. Or why the hydraulic fluid was 1/3 water.

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Re:F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with e... by 1718627440 on Wednesday August 27, 2025 @10:19AM (#45040096)

When the plane's software misbehaves due to broken sensors and you only now that, because there are human eyes up there, remote control isn't going to improve the situation.

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Re:F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with e... by Aurornis on Wednesday August 27, 2025 @10:07AM (#45039936)

Going from “I can check my washing machine remotely” to “it should be easy to remotely control fighter jets without any security risks” is quite a leap.

Anyway it’s missing the point. If the pilot can’t adequately control the airplane then a remote operator isn’t going to have a better experience.

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Re:F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with e... by jWhick on Wednesday August 27, 2025 @05:14PM (#45045372)

I mean, a remote operator could either try to land it in life risking situation, salvaging some of that $200M, or do kamikaze style on a target, both feel quite useful for war situations.

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Re:F-35 pilot held 50-minute airborne conference call with e... by nradov on Wednesday August 27, 2025 @09:17PM (#45047216)

Remote piloting isn't useful for aircraft expected to perform penetrating strike missions against near-peer adversaries. Developing such a capability would be a waste of money.

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