Exclusive: Mitsubishi Heavy in talks to become F-35 supplier, seeks Japan subsidy: sources

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/01/27/us-mhi-f-35-export-idUSBREA0Q0C920140127



Exclusive: Mitsubishi Heavy in talks to become F-35 supplier, seeks Japan subsidy: sources
By Tim Kelly and Nobuhiro Kubo
TOKYO Mon Jan 27, 2014 4:02am EST

(Reuters) - Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is in advanced talks to supply parts for the F-35 stealth fighter to Britain's BAE Systems, in what would be the first involvement of a Japanese manufacturer in a global weapons program, according to people with knowledge of the discussions.

Any agreement on such a groundbreaking deal hinges in part on whether Tokyo will subsidize the manufacture of components for the rear fuselage of the fighter that Mitsubishi Heavy is seeking to supply as a subcontractor, the three sources said.

Mitsubishi Heavy, which made the famous Zero fighter in World War Two, has already won a contract worth more than $620 million for final assembly for the 42 F-35 jets now on order by Japan's military.

A deal to become a second-tier supplier for the Lockheed Martin F-35 would deepen Mitsubishi Heavy's ties to a project to deliver a fighter jet that the United States and allies plan to use for decades.