Turkey signs deal with Britain to buy 20 fighter jets

2025-10-27 20:12:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday signed a deal to buy 20 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from Turkey for £8 billion, his office said.

In July, Turkey and Britain had signed preliminary agreements for the purchase of 40 Typhoon aircraft, approved by members of the Eurofighter consortium, including Germany, Italy and Spain, and represented by the companies Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo.

Starmer met with Turkish President Tayyip Recep Erdogan in Ankara on Monday to sign the deal.

Turkey is seeking to take advantage of these advanced fighter jets to keep up with regional rivals like Israel, which has carried out attacks across the Middle East this year.

Turkey, which is now enjoying its warmest relations with the West in recent years, has sought to buy Eurofighters and potentially American F-35 jets to bolster its aging fleet, which consists mainly of F-16s.

Turkey has the second largest army in NATO.
Europe has increasingly turned to Turkey, which has the second largest army in NATO and is a major exporter of combat drones, to strengthen the alliance's eastern flank and support any future stabilization force after the war in Ukraine.

Last week, Reuters reported, citing sources, that Turkey was close to a deal to immediately take delivery of 12 Typhoon jets, albeit used, from previous buyers Qatar and Oman, to meet its urgent needs.

More new aircraft from Britain will arrive in the coming years.

Last week, Erdogan visited Qatar and Oman, in part to talk about the issue.

Turkey, which wants to fill the gap before its domestic KAAN aircraft are ready in the coming years, opened talks to receive Typhoon aircraft in 2023.

Last year, Ankara secured a $7 billion deal with Washington for 40 F-16 jets, for which it is now facing delays.

Air strikes by Israel, the region's most advanced military power, with hundreds of US-supplied F-15, F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, on Turkey's neighbors Iran and Syria, as well as Lebanon and Qatar, have worried Ankara over the past year and convinced it to strengthen its defenses, officials said./ REL