TOKYO -- Japan deployed its first F-35A stealth fighter jet Friday amid rising tension on the Korean peninsula. But the price tag keeps increasing for the cutting-edge aircraft, and the defense industry here is not happy with its diminished participation in production.
"At a time when countries around us are rapidly strengthening their air combat capabilities, the deployment of the F-35A jets has an extremely important significance for our national security," Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters the same day.
