The state arms procurement agency announced that a letter of acceptance(LOA) has been signed with the U.S. government to purchase additional F-35A stealth fighters.

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration(DAPA) said on Wednesday that the LOA was signed on December 8 for 20 additional F-35As in a Foreign Military Sale.

DAPA brought in 40 F-35A fighters between 2019 and 2022, with 39 of them currently in operation after one made an emergency landing in January due to a bird strike that caused internal damage too costly to repair.

The government plans to acquire 20 additional F-35As in a second round of procurement, which will raise the total to 59.

DAPA said that the 20 new fighters will possess a significantly improved performance over the current models in terms of threat response capabilities, encryption and security functions as well as armed operation abilities.