Congress orders the USAF to study reducing F-35 numbers...

via National Defense...

The challenge is playing a role in the service's decision to potentially reduce the number of F-35s it buys. It had originally planned to procure 1,763 but Congress has since asked the Air Force to reexamine that number. The service is currently working on a report, which it owes to Congress 180 days after the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act is enacted, he said.
"We're going to look at wargaming, what kind of capacity we need, what combination of fourth- and fifth-generation capability [we need], what long-range strike bomber does with respect to the ground attack or the precision attack capability — we're looking at all of those things," Carlisle said.
"As we look to the future and what we're going to do, I think there is a decision to be made on how many F-35s we are going to buy." However, "it's way too early to make that decision."

Critical mass is approaching.

The DoD is all but signalling that the number of F-35's bought is going to be reduced. 

OF COURSE THIS MEANS THAT A CLASSIC DEATH SPIRAL WILL RESULT!

The number of planes bought is reduced because they're too expensive, which means that the new number of planes bought is reduced because they're too expensive because they were previously reduced...and so on and so forth....

If we weren't talking about the idiocy of military leadership when it comes to national security and our future airpower I'd be laughing my ass off and raising a shot of JD.

Instead all I can do is marvel.  If a blogger could see the trouble coming (after being a HUGE supporter of the program) then certainly the guys in the Pentagon knew better.  Now we're facing the worst of all possible scenarios.  They have eviscerated US combat power for an airplane that underperforms and costs too much money.  We are seeing the worst military leadership in several generations...all because they were zealots instead of professionals.