Britain and Turkey have struck an £8 billion deal to sell 20 Typhoon fighter jets, which will save thousands of jobs in Britain.
Britain will sell 20 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters to Turkey, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday. During his visit to Ankara, he signed an agreement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sale of these fighters worth a total of eight billion pounds (approximately 9.2 billion euros). TASR informs about it according to the reports of the DPA agency and the Sky News station.
Starmer called the deal “a win for British workers, for our defense industry and for NATO security”. According to DPA, this is the biggest deal for the sale of fighters in the past 20 years and the first order for British Typhoons since 2017. As Starmer’s office explained on its website, the deal will provide 20,000 skilled jobs in Britain with production lines in Bristol, Edinburgh, Salmesbury and Warton.
Turkey has sought to purchase these fighters since 2023. Reuters reminds that Turkey and Britain signed a preliminary purchase agreement for 40 Typhoon fighters in July of this year, which was approved by members of the Eurofighter consortium. The aircraft are produced in a partnership between Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy. The delivery of the first fighters to Turkey is expected in 2030, reports DPA.
The effort to modernize the squadron
Reuters reports that Turkey is seeking to acquire modern fighter jets to keep pace with regional rivals such as Israel, which has carried out attacks on the territory of several Middle Eastern states this year. Turkey wants to acquire Eurofighter jets and potentially US F-35s to support its aging squadron of mostly F-16s, according to Reuters.
