There's already a Georgia Tech research facility at nearby Dobbins Air Reserve Base with labs for aerospace and electromagnetic research.

The expansion by Tech could involve the relocation or placement of 500 research-related jobs to the site, a 2016 news release said.

The final Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor fighter jet is rolled off the assembly line in Marietta on Dec. 13, 2011. The aircraft was regarded as the world's premier 5th generation fighter.

Research funding has increased for Tech in recent years, with about half of its $1.4 billion budget dedicated to it, according to Tech president Bud Peterson. Tech officials are worried that proposed Trump administration budget cuts to federal research will significantly reduce their share.

“We’re watching very carefully what happens with federal research,” Peterson said in an interview Friday.

“It would be substantial,” he added in reference to cuts if approved at proposed levels.

Karmyn Norwood, Lockheed Martin vice president for line of business integration, previously called the agreement with Georgia Tech a “win-win situation as we evolve our business and assist Georgia Tech in expanding their capabilities.”

Lockheed’s roots in Marietta go back more than half a century.

At peak production of the F-22 in 2005, about 5,600 employees worked in the program, including 944 in Marietta. When the last and 195th jet rolled off the line in Marietta on Dec. 13, 2011, that number was 1,650 throughout the company, with 930 in Marietta.

All production of F-22 fighter jets ceased in 2013.

Getting the contract in 1991 to build the F-22, a replacement to the Air Force’s jewel fighter the F-15, was a point of pride for Lockheed, known for its cargo planes.

But the F-22 had problems early on, including critics who weren’t sure why it was needed in a post-Cold War era. And then there was the cost. The Air Force estimated it cost $143 million per plane, but estimates ranged to more than double that including development costs.