JET CONTRACT UP IN THE AIR : GOVERNMENT DECISION ON LOCKHEED MARTIN'S BID DUE TODAY.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Lockheed Martin ``Skunk Works'' will learn today if the company is among the two contractors selected by the Defense Department to build prototypes of a multiservice fighter.

Secretary of Defense William Perry is scheduled to announce at 9 a.m. PST which two contractors will build prototypes of the Joint Strike Technology fighter.

Each contractor will build two prototypes for an evaluation that will lead to one contractor being selected in 1999 or 2000 to produce the fighter for the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Britain's Royal Navy.

Lockheed Martin officials say they will build their two prototypes in Palmdale, although production fighters most likely would be assembled in Fort Worth, Texas.

Employment figures were not available Friday.

The Pentagon plans to purchase approximately 3,000 Joint Strike fighters between 2005 and 2030. The fighter is intended to replace the Air Force's F-16, the Navy's F-18 and the Marine Corps AV-8 Harrier.

Pentagon officials list the fighter's price at $30 million each. The Congressional Budget Office, however, estimates the fighters will cost between $63 million to $81 million each.

Competing for the contract are Lockheed Martin, Boeing Co., and a team of McDonnell Douglas Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. Teamed with Lockheed Martin are British engine manufacturers Rolls-Royce and Allison.

Lockheed Martin's JST fighter is a single-engine aircraft with delta-shaped wings and two tails.

The Marine Corps version will include a lift-fan behind the cockpit which will allow it to takeoff and landing vertically like the Harrier jet.

For the Navy and Air Force versions, the lift fan will be removed and extra fuel tanks installed, giving them more range.