WASHINGTON A Senate push to spend more on keeping weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists is up against a host of competing defense priorities that are likely to leave counter-terrorism coffers billions of dollars short.

NEW YORK After being shut out of the F-15 fighter business for years, General Electric’s persistence has finally paid off with South Korea’s selection of the company’s Fl10-GE-129 to power its F-15K fleet. Under the $340-million engine deal, South Korea will buy 88 F110-129s beginning in 2005 to power 40 F-l5s.

NEW YORK Lockheed Martin Corp.’s strategy of managing its business units for cash flow and concentrating on internal growth—versus getting caught up in the pursuit of more acquisitions—continues to show results. They were evident most recently in the defense contractor’s first-quarter performance, with both net income and earnings per share nearly doubling, to $218 million or 50 cents per share, from a year ago.

WASHINGTON U.S. Navy officials plan to operate unmanned and manned aircraft in a single unit as they explore how UAVs can best augment existing intelligence, surveillance and electronic warfare systems. The tie-in between manned aircraft and UAVs will first be tried with P-3 units and Global Hawk high-altitude endurance UAVs.

WASHINGTON A testbed version of USAF’s next-generation, wide-body intelligence-gathering aircraft made its first flight this month, less than a year after it was conceptualized. The MC2A is being designed to replace the RC-135 Rivet Joint, E-8 Joint-STARS and E-3 AWACS aircraft and, as an added benefit, to spot stealthy targets such as low-flying cruise missiles.

NEW YORK TRW Inc. shareholders last week approved a Northrop Grumman Corp.-sponsored resolution giving the company access to TRW’s books, paving the way for Northrop to offer a takeover bid that reflects TRW’s strategic value. But the resolution was non-binding, meaning it did not mandate that TRW cooperate with Northrop.