REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, TOKYO - 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 USD 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. It would also mark a break with Japan's self-imposed curbs on military exports at a time when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is pushing to bolster the self-reliance of Japan's military amid rising regional tensions with China.

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