3 Offers Made to Ford for Its Subsidiary : Defense industry: Hughes Aircraft is one of the bidders for Ford Aerospace Corp., which employs 17,000 people.

Ford Motor Co. said Thursday that it has received three offers for its Ford Aerospace Corp. defense subsidiary, including one from Hughes Aircraft Co. in El Segundo.

Ford spokesman Tom Rhoades in Dearborn, Mich., declined to disclose the bid prices, but sources have estimated the going price may be about $600 million. The company said it expects to select the final bidder by next week.

Rhoades said one of the three bids was a joint offer from Hughes Aircraft Co. in El Segundo and Alcatel Co. of France. Sources say that Alcatel wants to buy Ford’s commercial satellite business, while Hughes wants the subsidiary’s defense businesses.

Hughes spokesman Richard Dore said the company will neither confirm nor deny its involvement in any potential acquisitions.

The other bids were from Loral Corp., a New York defense electronics company, and a team of companies including Westinghouse Electric Corp., the investment firm Carlyle Group, and Aerospatiale of France, which is connected with the Airbus aircraft.

Loral spokeswoman Elizabeth Allen confirmed that the company had submitted a bid but declined to disclose details or say when she expected a decision from Ford.

Ford Motor put its Newport Beach-based Ford Aerospace unit up for sale on Jan. 12, saying it wanted to focus on its automotive operations. Analysts originally estimated that the company would draw bids of more than $1 billion, but sources say the depressed state of the defense industry led to lower bids.

Ford Aerospace has revenue of about $2 billion a year, two thirds of it from the defense sector. The company employs 17,000 people, including more than 3,000 at its Aeroneutronic division in Newport Beach.

The company’s products and operations include the Sidewinder air-to-air missile, space communications satellites and support work for NASA in Houston.