Japan to spend $10B on Lockheed Martin fighter jets

During the Paris Air Show, Lockheed Martin’s F-35A fighter jets took to the skies, showing off their high-flying maneuvers as the company approaches a landmark $37 billion deal to sell the jets to 11 nations

Japan may be a self-described pacifist country, but it’s poised to become the biggest foreign buyer of Lockheed Martin’s F-35 fighter jets.

Amid pressure from President Trump to buy more American goods and a rising military threat from China and North Korea, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday approved a $10 billion purchase of 147 F-35 aircraft to replace its aging military jets.

It will make the development of Tokyo’s first post-World War II aircraft carriers, according to The Wall Street Journal.

That surpasses the U.K -- currently the largest foreign customer of the American manufacturer -- which has plans to buy 138 jets, according to the Journal.

Tokyo’s decision to increase its aircraft purchases came after Trump openly criticized a trade deficit between the two nations, and called on Japan to spend “massive amounts” on American defense products.