MADRID, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Spain has shelved plans to buy

F-35 fighter jets, manufactured by U.S. aerospace giant Lockheed

Martin ( LMT ), El Pais newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing

unidentified government sources.

The government had earmarked 6.25 billion euros ($7.24

billion) in its 2023 budget to buy new fighter jets, El Pais

said.

But the Spanish government's plan to spend most of the

additional 10.5 billion euros for defence this year in Europe

made it impossible to acquire U.S.-made fighter jets, the

newspaper reported.

Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced

plans earlier this year to increase spending on defence to meet

the current NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product, and

later refused to raise spending to 5% during a summit in June.

Sanchez's position was heavily criticized by U.S. President

Donald Trump, who threatened to impose additional tariffs o the

country's goods

Spokespeople for Spain's Defence Ministry and for Lockheed

Martin ( LMT ) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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