Japan will launch a tender for fighter jets as soon as mid-July, the Ministry of Defence said, in a deal seen worth up to $40 billion as Tokyo seeks to bolster its air defences amid creeping tension with China over disputed maritime borders.
China is still testing its first stealth fighter, the J-20, but the warplane will soon enter service, the air force said, after pictures circulated in Chinese media suggesting it had already joined the active fleet.
U.S.-backed Syrian fighters advanced against Islamic State in the last tract of territory the group holds near the Turkish border on Wednesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group said.
