NEW YORK TRW Inc. last week took the offensive against Northrop Grumman and its hostile bid to acquire the company. It again rejected Northrop’s offer of $47 a share as “grossly inadequate,” and announced it would break up the enterprise and operate its space and electronics business as a stand-alone company—all in the interests of “shareholder value.”

FORT WORTH Lockheed Martin is proposing an airborne electronic attack configuration for the Joint Strike Fighter and could field an interim EF-35 platform in about 10 years, followed by a low-observable, deep-penetration version designed to stay with strike teams from takeoff to landing.

WASHINGTON The Defense Dept, is hinting that it might shut down procurement projects that have spent years in development and still have financial problems. “I wouldn’t be surprised to see more program cancellations, particularly where there is financial duress combined with perhaps not up-to-date technology,” Suzanne Patrick, deputy undersecretary of Defense for industrial policy, said.

WASHINGTON The U.S. Army’s selection of Boeing to be the integrator of the Future Combat System sets in motion a process to define the size, shape and scope of a weapon that’s being molded largely by airlift requirements. Boeing upset General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin for the lead systems integrator (LSI) role.

WASHINGTON The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has picked a Boeing-led team to demonstrate autonomous in-orbit refueling and repair of one satellite by another. Boeing will have overall integration responsibility on the team that includes Ball Aerospace and Technologies, TRW, MD Robotics, and Charles Stark Draper Laboratory.

NEW YORK Boeing last week expanded its Office of the Chairman to include three senior executives who will help run the company and further its strategic development. The reshuffling did nothing, however, to identify the likeliest candidate to replace CEO Phil Condit when he retires.