Turkiye signs deal with the UK to buy 20 Eurofighter jets

As Ankara works to strengthen its air defenses while developing its own fifth-generation KAAN fighter planes, Turkiye and the United Kingdom have reached a deal to purchase 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets for almost $11 billion.

The agreement was signed on Monday in Ankara by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

The move was referred to as the “biggest fighter jet deal in a generation,” according to Erdogan, while Erdogan praised it as “a new symbol of the strategic relations” between “two close allies.”

Starmer, who speaks in Ankara, noted that NATO, which includes the UK and Turkiye, is also pleased with the deal.

The British prime minister said that because this is NATO’s southeast flank, having that capability integrated with the United Kingdom is crucial to NATO as well.

According to Starmer, the first Typhoons ordered by the agreement on Monday are scheduled to arrive in Ankara in 2030.

A preliminary agreement between Turkiye and the UK, approved by the other Eurofighter consortium members, Germany, Italy, and Spain, was signed in July.

To strengthen its fleet before its own KAAN jets start operating, Turkish officials have stated that Ankara wants to purchase 120 fighter jets.

The Turkish Ministry of Defense has announced that it wants to purchase 12 more Typhoons from Qatar and Oman in order to bridge the gap with regional rivals like Israel.

A $ 7 billion agreement between Turkiye and the United States for 40 F-16s was confirmed last year, but delays are still a possibility.

Erdogan has also spoken to Donald Trump, his counterpart in the US, about the possibility of re-entry the F-35 fighter jet program, which Turkiye was barred from in 2019 due to its purchase of Russian-made S-400 missile defense systems.

Starmer’s first encounter with Turkiye as prime minister coincided with the release of new accusations against Istanbul’s jailed mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu, who is regarded as Erdogan’s principal political rival.