Turkey has signed an agreement with the United Kingdom to procure 20 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter aircraft at a cost of up to £8 billion, concluding a year-long negotiation process.
Jorge Tamarit-Degenhardt, CEO of the Eurofighter Consortium, lauded the deal, stating:
“As a proud member of the Eurofighter family, Türkiye will join our four core nations and five partner nations in working together to protect our skies and strengthen security across Europe with a vital role in covering the Black Sea flank.”
Talks began around this time last year, with reports emerging of Ankara seeking 40 Typhoon fighter aircraft. With the Typhoon managed by a multinational consortium, each member state had to approve the sale to Turkey; Germany was the final roadblock until 14-15 October, when the German Foreign Ministry announced its approval of negotiations with Turkey.
However, the primary contractor of this deal is BAE, which will assemble the Turkish Air Force (TuAF) fighters at its Warton facility. This deal extends the Typhoon’s production run in the UK into the 2030s, when the first of Turkey’s units will be delivered.
The value of the fighter aircraft and its munitions package is reportedly £5.4 billion, with support and training work as a separate contract valued at around £1.6 billion.
In addition to these newly built fighters, the Turkish defence minister, Yaşar Güler, stated that Ankara is also working to buy 24 second-hand Typhoons from Qatar and Oman (i.e.,12 each), totalling 44 units as part of this program.
The cost of the second-hand units is not included in this contract with BAE.
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Inclusive of Turkey’s purchase, there are 147 Typhoons in the order books, with Germany (58 units), Spain (45 units), and Italy (24 units). Thus, Turkey is the sole non-consortium member with pending Typhoon orders, making Ankara’s deal a significant boon for the fighter.
Efforts were made to market the Typhoon to other countries, including the Gulf states (most of whom are existing customers) and Bangladesh.
No details were revealed regarding potential offsets; however, it should be noted that Turkey requires offsets for its big-ticket defence imports.
The Presidency of Defence Industries (SSB) typically attaches a minimum 50% offset, though it is not known if this was applied to the Typhoon deal with the United Kingdom.
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