The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) will not back down on its request to purchase US-made F-35 fighter jets, even after the opposition party announced it would use the issue to vote down the 2023 budget bill during an upcoming House debate. According to an RTAF source, the armed forces will need eight state-of-the-art F-35s, at about 2.7 billion baht each, without weaponry, to boost its ageing fleet of fighter jets. The air force intends to procure the jets for its pilots and technicians so they can train before they are equipped with weaponry later on. The training to ensure pilots are prepared t…