Lockheed Martin Corp ( id="symbol_LMT.N_0">LMT.N) has signed a contract with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd ( id="symbol_7011.T7011.T) to begin work on a final assembly and check-out plant for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in Japan, it said on Wednesday.
_0">Steve O'Bryan, Lockheed vice president on the F-35 program, announced the contract agreement at the Paris Airshow. He declined to give details on the value of the contract.
_1">A similar facility built in Italy to assemble F-35 jets in Europe cost an estimated 800 million Euros ($1.1 billion).
(Reporting By Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Greg Mahlich)