Malaysian Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak has announced plans to close a deal to buy F/A-18F fighter jets from the United States by the end of the year, a report said today.

Najib said discussions on technical performance were underway with the US Navy and the aircraft-makers Boeing Company and he hoped to finalise the details by the end of the year or by early 2003.

He was quoted by the official Bernama news agency as saying no letter of intent had been issued and declined to reveal the number of jets involved in the agreement.

Najib was responding to reports Thursday that the Pentagon had notified the US Congress of a possible sale to Malaysia of 18 of the fighters as part of a deal that could be worth nearly US$1.5 billion (RM5.7 billion).