By Pamela Barbaglia and Mike Stone

LONDON/NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - Italian industrial conglomerate Finmeccanica is moving ahead with the sale of some assets of its U.S. defence subsidiary, DRS Technologies, paving the way to a possible exit, several sources familiar with the matter said.

The decision to sell some DRS assets is part of a wider review of Finmeccanica's portfolio as it looks to cut debt and list investor confidence. The Italian conglomerate clinched a $2.2 billion deal with Japan's Hitachi on Feb. 24 to sell its railway units.

Finmeccanica has now turned to its U.S. defence contractor DRS Technologies, which is led by former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defence William Lynn.

DRS was acquired in 2008 for $5.2 billion but has since lost more than 40 percent of its value, partly due to defence budget cuts in the United States and the global financial crisis.

While the U.S. market still offers growth opportunities, Finmeccanica has put the aviation and logistics and tactical communications and networks units up for sale.

U.S. investment bank Jefferies Group LLC is leading the sale and is expected to send out invitations called "teasers" as soon as next week, one of the sources said.

The assets, which will be offered to both industry bidders and financial investors, could be valued at $200 million, two of the sources said.

Meanwhile, U.S. and European investment banks are already pitching for a larger mandate to manage the sale of a substantial stake of DRS Technologies, several sources said.

"Finmeccanica is reviewing all sorts of strategic options for DRS, including a majority stake sale," said a source familiar with the situation.

The U.S. defence contractor has already drawn interest from heavyweight buyout funds such as Carlyle, two sources said, adding that negotiations have yet to start.

Representatives at Finmeccanica and Carlyle declined to comment.

Finmeccanica CEO Mauro Moretti said on Jan. 28 the Italian group wanted to find a partner for DRS Technologies and bring it back to growth after business volumes had halved since 2009.

A sale of DRS will show how far Moretti is willing to go to tackle Finmeccanica's debt load of 4.1 billion euros ($4.58 billion), which ratings agencies have downgraded to junk status.

It would also mark the end of Finmeccanica's presence in the U.S. after former CEO Pier Francesco Guarguaglini crowned his ambitions to gain a foothold in the world's biggest defence market back in 2008. ($1 = 0.8953 euros) (Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni in Milan, editing by Louise Heavens)