Summary

  • Blenheim Capital’s appeal on South Korea’s F-35 deal denied by Supreme Court
  • South Korea purchased Lockheed F-35 jets valued at $7 billion since 2014
  • Blenheim claimed it lost millions due to exclusion from the South Korea deal

International deals broker Blenheim Capital managed to appeal a case involving South Korea’s purchase of F-35 fighter jets and a satellite to the Supreme Court. However, on Monday, the Supreme Court unceremoniously rejected the appeal without comment. The decision seemingly puts to rest a dispute over the acquisition of South Korea’s jets. South Korea has purchased dozens of F-35A variant jets (the conventional air force-variant of the F-35 family’s three variants).

Supreme Court rejects broker’s F-35 appeal

Reuters reported that the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Blenheim Capital. The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal without comment. Lockheed released a statement saying, “We appreciate the Supreme Court putting this matter to rest.” In May 2024, Reuters reported that the White House had asked the Supreme Court not to hear the appeal.

A U.S. Air Force F-35A Lightning II assigned to the F-35A Lightning II Demonstration Team flies in a practice airshow performance at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, Jan. 11, 2024.

Photo: USAF

Blenheim sued South Korea, Lockheed, and Airbus in 2021 in Virginia federal court, claiming violations of US antitrust law and interference with its brokerage arrangement (it later dropped the antitrust claim). Blenheim says it lost hundreds of millions because of it.

Blenheim Capital argued that it had been excluded from the multibillion-dollar deal in which South Korea purchased American F-35s and a satellite. The company sued defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Airbus, claiming that they had “conspired to eliminate the company from the South Korea deal.” Lockheed Martin and Airbus denied the charges.

In 2022, the Virginia-based 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the lower court’s dismissal of the case, stating that the military transactions were beyond the reach of US courts. Reuters also reported in May that the Justice Department recommended leaving the lower court ruling in place.

F-35 flying seen underneath

Photo: US Air Force

According to Reuters, Blenheim “specializes in corporate and governmental deals involving ‘offsets,’ where a buyer receives some additional goods or services apart from the core transaction to help with lower overall costs.”

Related

1st In 7 Years: US B-1 Bombers Conduct Guided Exercise With South Korean F-15K Fighters

Two B-1 Lancers took part in live-fire South Korean exercises conducted with the South Korean Air Force.

South Korea’s purchase of Lockheed F-35s

South Korea joined the F-35 fifth-generation fighter program in 2014. Since then, South Korea has taken delivery of around 40 F-35A fighter jets valued at around $7 billion. It also received a military satellite as an offset from Airbus (when Blenheim was working as the offset broker to Lockheed).

F-35 Dropping Stormbreaker

In January 2024, Janes reported that South Korea had signed a letter of acceptance to acquire an additional batch of F-35 jets. Janes noted that they had previously reported in September 2023 that South Korea had requested the sale of “as many as” 25 F-35As (a deal worth $5 billion). Aviation Week quoted the South Korean Defense Acquisition Program Administration as saying the finalized contract was for a batch of 20 F-35As.

Recently, South Korea deployed its advanced F-35 fighter jets ahead of a North Korean spy satellite launch. North Korea is forbidden to launch military satellites under international sanctions. At any rate, the launch failed, and the satellite blew up.

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