I’m a former defense official who warned about the F-35’s catalogue of safety and security problems years ago – this is why it may have been HACKED or malfunctioned

A former U.S. defense official, who has warned for years about F-35 security problems, said a software glitch or cyberattack could have caused the plane that went missing over the South Carolina this weekend.

Former Marine Dan Grazier, who works at a defense watchdog, wrote a report in 2019 warning that the Defense Department’s most expensive weapons system is rife with material vulnerabilities. cybersecurity.

He told DailyMail.com today: “There are thousands of penetration points, weaknesses throughout the business, where a hacker could access the software.”

Grazier also claimed that the Pentagon had known about the flaws in the software since the Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) conducted tests in 2017, but had not yet fixed the problems .

The same DOT&E survey showed a total operational capability rate of 26 percent across the entire F-35 fleet, which may have had an impact on Sunday’s incident.

The $145 million jet disappeared for hours over South Carolina when the pilot ejected during a training exercise and was found 28 hours later.

DailyMail.com has contacted the Ministry of Defense and the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing for comment.

The Pentagon declined to detail the cause of what it called an “incident.”

But Grazier said: “It is possible this plane was hijacked, but we will only know with the investigation.

“If I had to bet on it, it would be a malfunction of this particular plane, and it could be a bigger problem at the fleet level – this one just crashed now.” ‘

Grazier explained that the software is a “backdoor for hackers” because it is a huge network of information connected to the wider Internet and accessible with the appropriate attacks.

These flaws could allow malicious actors to destroy entire fleets, halt software upgrades, take control of weapons, and steal critical performance data, which occurred in a breach of the plane in 2007.

The plane was flying in tandem with another jet, which returned to base after the crash rather than following the unmanned plane.

“The fact that the other F-35s flew in formation safely and only one had an accident, if there had been a bad actor capable of hacking, I doubt they would have done it in this case,” he said.

“I wouldn’t show my cards randomly on a Sunday. I would only talk about it when it could really make a difference.

Grazier also explained that a general emergency is still on the scenario table.

The jet’s technology is highly classified, but it runs on Lockheed-Martin’s Autonomous Logistics Information System (ALIS), the pilots’ “backbone.”

ALIS integrates various functionalities, including operations, maintenance, prognostics, supply chain, customer support services, training and technical data.

The system was created by Lockheed Martin, specifically for the F-35.

The US aerospace company’s “revolutionary” software was attacked in 2012 by a special team of US Navy hackers who gained access to the advanced logistics system.

In 2016, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan government agency, highlighted ongoing security concerns among ALIS personnel, particularly when transferring data between classified and unclassified servers and the fact that CPE and ALOU constitute single points of failure.

Douglas Barrie, senior research fellow in military aerospace at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said in a statement: “The big concern about ALIS is that it is so interconnected and brings together data from all F-35 users in the world that there are many potentials. entry points for a potential hacker to enter.

And then, in 2017, ALIS caused F-35 pilots to leave Yuma Air Force Base with “discrepancies,” forcing the team to ground the plane.

GAO also found in 2020 that crucial data supposed to be automatically collected by ALIS was often inaccurate or misleading.

Grazier and others have warned that ALIS can be infiltrated by malware that spoofs the system to furtively provide false information, effectively taking perfectly usable planes out of service.

He also said that officials simply patch flaws in the software as they find them.

“It’s like a digital quilt with patches everywhere, which creates a lot of potential attack factors,” Grazier said.

The Marine Corps’ F-35 fighter jet is missing after its pilot ejected over South Carolina on Sunday, leaving the craft flying in a “zombie state.”

The pilot ejected and parachuted safely into a residential area of ​​North Charleston around 2 p.m. ET on Sunday.

He was transported to a local hospital, where he is in stable condition, Maj. Melanie Salinas said. The name of the pilot has not been released.

After a 28-hour search, debris from the missing F-35 plane was found about two hours northeast of Joint Base Charleston.

“Normally when a pilot ejects, the plane lands or crashes near where it landed, but this plane continues to fly,” Grazier said.

“As the transponder was not working, they had difficulty finding it.

“I suspect they struggled because (the F-35) probably only crashed after it ran out of fuel.” There was no big fireball, it crashed into the trees.

Grazier served in Iraq and Afghanistan during the War on Terror, where he was a tank officer.

“I was protected, but if there was a hole in the tank I would ask questions,” he said.

“We created a digital version of it with the F-35.”

Grazier spoke to DailyMail.com about a Capitol Hill event he attended in 2017, hosted by Lockheed Martin to show off the F-35.

“As soon as you walked in, there was a welcome table, and the first thing you encountered was a printed map detailing the suppliers and money invested in each F-35 policy state,” he said .

“It was to remind all staff of the economic impact if the program were to be canceled and (Lockheed Martin) is making these lavish claims on its website.

Reported flaws in the F-35 date back to 2007, when hackers breached the program and stole data about the craft’s design and electronics.

“Under federal law, the F-35 program should have been canceled, but Senator Robert Gates signed a national security waiver to keep it going, which doubled the budget and extended the timeline,” Grazier said .

He explained that the F-35 program has continued to exist because it is “politically designed.”

“They get a program approved and they distribute the money across the country before anyone knows the program, knows who it’s running and what the problems are,” Grazier said.

“As we begin, cyber vulnerabilities, vulnerabilities and weapons do not work. If the main argument in favor of the program is the economic impact, then everything indicates that this item has no military value.

The Lockheed Martin website offers an interactive map of the United States that shows the number of suppliers, direct and indirect jobs, and economic impact associated with the F-35 program.

For example, Texas has 110 supplier locations, creating 75,120 jobs with an economic impact of $12.435 billion.

“With all this money invested, politicians and suppliers are reluctant to vote against the F-35 program,” Grazier said.

“The next time an official runs for re-election in a vote to overturn the program, their opponent can argue that they support it because of the jobs and money it brings to the government. State.

“Added to that are direct political contributions – Lockheed gives out a lot of money. They give campaign contributions.

“I don’t like to see people unemployed, but it’s a side benefit: taxpayers fund these programs to build effective weapons systems.”