Japanese F-35A aircraft

Japan is planning to purchase 105 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters, US President Donald Trump said during his visit to Tokyo on Monday.

"Japan has just announced its intent to purchase 105 brand new F35 stealth aircraft. Stealth, because, the fact is you can't see them," Trump was quoted by AFP as saying.

"This purchase would give Japan the largest F35 fleet of any US ally," he added.

The president appeared to be referencing a deal first announced by the company in December 2018. Japan's government in its latest defense budget released in the same month, announced that it plans to acquire 105 F-35A aircraft.

According to Japanese media, the country is eyeing to procure a total of 147 F-35 fighter jets, 105 of which were expected to be F-35As for the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF). The contract for ASDF jets was estimated to be worth a staggering $9.1 billion (1 trillion yen).

An F-35 fighter belonging to the ASDF crashed on April 9 this year. It is said to be involved in seven emergency landing incidents prior to the crash along with four other F-35s out of 13 in service with the ASDF.