25 Jun 02. Three defense companies have made bids for TRW Inc.’s (NYSE:TRW – News) space and defense businesses, putting additional pressure on Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE:NOC – News) to sweeten its own bid for the company.

In a report on its Web site late Monday Night, The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the bidding process, reported that General Dynamics Corp. (NYSE:GD – News), Raytheon Co. and Britain’s BAE SYSTEMS PLC placed bids for TRW’s operations.

TRW had set up a deadline of 12 p.m. Monday for bids for its defense assets, which make satellites and missile-defense systems.

The Journal reported that both units could bring as much as $6.5bn. The newspaper reported that Northrop submitted an entirely new bid for the entire company, but there was no way of determining whether it topped its previous offer of $6.7bn.