Expensive F-35 fighter at risk of budget "death spiral"

It's called the "death spiral," and America's newest warplane, the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, is in danger of falling into it before the plane has even gone into service.

The term - recently invoked by top brass involved in the F-35 program - refers to a budgeting Catch-22 that plagues the defense industry.

To keep the cost per airplane low, you need to build and sell a lot of planes. But in tough economic times, governments cut orders to save money.

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