The United States government has given the green light for the sale of up to a dozen elite stealth fighter jets and related equipment to Singapore for US$2.75 billion (S$3.7 billion). Singapore would be the fourth country in the Asia-Pacific region to own F-35 jets, after Australia, Japan and South Korea, said RSIS airpower analyst Ben Ho. He said this acquisition of America’s most advanced warplane would “mark a quantum leap” in capability for the Republic of Singapore Air Force fighter force and the Singapore Armed Forces as a whole.