On 17 June, the US Supreme Court dismissed an appeal case by Blenheim Capital Holdings, who had claimed that Lockheed Martin, Airbus Defence and Space SAS, South Korea’s DAPA, and the South Korean government had conspired to cut Blenheim out of an F-35 fighter jet offset deal. The dismissal brings an end to the lawsuit filed in December 2020, which alleged that DAPA and the two defence manufacturers had conspired to exclude Blenheim from the offset deal that it had designed and developed.
Rheinmetall and Leonardo have signed an MoU to establish a 50/50 joint venture to bid for the Italian Army’s new armoured vehicle contracts. Announced on 3 July, the joint venture will be headquartered in Italy with final assembly lines, homologation testing, delivery activities, and logistic support based in-country, leading to an Italian workshare of 60 percent.
MBDA and Kongsberg have withdrawn from a USD738m Swiss tender for the procurement of a medium-range ground-based air defence. The Swiss Federal Office for Defence Procurement, armasuisse, confirmed in a statement on 5 July that this leaves Diehl's IRIS-T system as the only potential bidder. MBDA and Kongsberg informed armasuisse that they would not be submitting offers for the tender due to time constraints.
Russia and India are finalising an agreement to establish a joint venture for the maintenance and repair of S-400 air defence systems in India. Russian state-owned enterprise Almaz Antey is in the final stage of negotiations with an undisclosed Indian company for the establishment of the facility. Almaz Antey will provide the technology needed for the task to the Indian partner, as well as offering technical support to establish the necessary infrastructure for the venture.
Brazil signed a contract with Italy’s Iveco Defence Vehicles Latin America (IDV LATAM) to acquire 420 Light Multirole Vehicles (LMVs). As part of the deal, IDV will manufacture LMV-BR2 Guaicurus vehicles at its Brazilian facility in Sete Lagoas. Several components of the LMV will be manufactured in Brazil, and tools for maintaining the vehicle platform will also be procured locally.
Benha Electronics signed a cooperation agreement with France’s Thales Group on 15 July to establish a joint venture in Egypt. Thales and Benha Electronics S.A.E. will cooperate in the fields of training and R&D towards the production of communication devices and signalling systems.