BANGKOK (Reuters) - The United States&nbsp;has&nbsp;declined to sell its F-35&nbsp;stealth fighter&nbsp;jets&nbsp;to&nbsp;Thailand&nbsp;over issues&nbsp;with training and technical requirements, the Southeast Asian country's&nbsp;air&nbsp;force&nbsp;said on Thursday.
Thailand, which was designated a Major Non-NATO Ally by the United States in 2003, had last year set aside a 13.8 billion baht ($407.68 million) budget for new&nbsp;jets&nbsp;to replace its aging, mostly&nbsp;U.S.-made F-5 and F-16 fighters.
It identified up to eight Lockheed Martin F-35A&nbsp;jets&nbsp;as its target.
But sale of the fifth-generation fighters was subject to conditions that included time constraints, technical requirements and maintenance compatibility and the United States was therefore unable to offer the sale,&nbsp;air&nbsp;force&nbsp;spokesperson&nbsp;Air&nbsp;Chief Marshall Prapas Sornchaidee said in a statement.
The F-35&nbsp;is one of the world's most advanced fighter&nbsp;aircraft and is considered a sensitive export sold only to the United States' closest allies, which in the Indo-Pacific includes Australia, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
Thailand&nbsp;currently&nbsp;has&nbsp;12 JAS-39 Gripen fighter&nbsp;jets&nbsp;made by Sweden's Saab in addition to its&nbsp;U.S.-made models, many of which have been in operation for decades.
Thailand's military&nbsp;has&nbsp;used&nbsp;U.S. technology going back to the Vietnam War era, when it hosted&nbsp;U.S.&nbsp;air&nbsp;force&nbsp;and navy personnel at its bases.&nbsp;Thailand&nbsp;has&nbsp;for many years hosted annual "Cobra Gold" training exercises with the United States.
Those warm ties have, however, been strained by the Thai military's coups&nbsp;against elected governments in 2006 and 2014, and concerns about overtures by army-backed governments towards rival power China.
Prapas said the&nbsp;air&nbsp;force&nbsp;would still replace its F-16&nbsp;jets&nbsp;and the United States had offered the upgraded F-15 and F-16s models, which could be transferred faster.
($1 = 33.8500 baht)
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(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat, Writing by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Martin Petty)

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Thailand air force says U.S. has denied request to buy F-35 jets