Turkey Buys 20 UK Typhoons in £8 Billion Deal
Turkey signed a 10-year deal in Ankara on Monday to buy 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets from Britain for £8 billion ($10.64 billion), a move meant to strengthen its air force as regional frictions keep flight hours high and interception missions frequent. The agreement—sealed during Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s first visit to Turkey since taking office—sets deliveries to begin early next year and includes an option for more aircraft.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called the deal “a new symbol of the strategic relations between our two close allies” and said it “will also open the door to joint projects in the defense industry.” Starmer said the countries were taking a step toward “a strengthened strategic partnership.”
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Defense Minister Yaşar Güler said Turkey ultimately plans to field 44 Typhoons, including 12 sourced from Qatar and 12 from Oman, alongside the 20 from Britain. The Eurofighter is a four-nation program built by a consortium spanning the UK, Germany, Italy, and Spain, and remains one of NATO’s core air-superiority platforms.
The purchase comes as Ankara refreshes a fleet anchored by older F-16s and after its removal from the US F-35 program in 2019 over the Russian S-400 air-defense acquisition. Turkish officials have sought multiple tracks to preserve air dominance and sustain domestic industry ties, while the UK is looking to deepen defense exports and political ties with a key Black Sea and Middle East player.
The leaders met one-on-one at the Presidential Complex before broader talks between delegations, framing the jet deal as part of a wider agenda that includes defense co-production, technology transfer, and closer coordination on security challenges from the Mediterranean to the Caucasus.
