Overview
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the contract in Ankara on October 27 for 20 jets valued at about £8 billion ($10.7–11 billion).
- The order is the first new UK-built Typhoon sale since 2017 and is described by the government as the largest British fighter export in nearly two decades, preserving the Warton production line and supporting sites in Lancashire, Bristol, and Edinburgh.
- Initial deliveries to Turkey are expected around 2030, with about 37% of each aircraft produced in the UK under the Eurofighter consortium led by BAE Systems alongside Airbus and Leonardo.
- The agreement follows a July memorandum of understanding and Germany’s decision to lift its veto, with London framing the sale as bolstering NATO’s southeastern flank and interoperability.
- Turkey is also pursuing used Typhoons from Qatar and Oman to meet near-term needs, according to officials and multiple reports, while the signing drew rights scrutiny as prosecutors filed new espionage charges against jailed opposition mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.