The United Kingdom’s defense ministry has submitted a proposal to Turkey from BAE Systems, one of Britain’s leading defense contractors, for the procurement of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, Turkish Defense Ministry sources said, according to BBC’s Turkish service.
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced last November that Germany’s sales authority had been tasked with working on the sale of Eurofighters to Turkey after the country dropped its longstanding objection to the sale.
Following this, the Turkish ministry recently sent a document detailing its requirements related to the acquisition of the aircraft to the United Kingdom’s defense ministry and BAE Systems.
The ministry has now initiated a review of the proposal for the procurement of the Eurofighter Typhoon jets.
Turkey has long been interested in acquiring the Eurofighter Typhoon jets to bolster its air force capabilities. The sale had previously been blocked by Germany’s unilateral embargo, despite approval from other Eurofighter consortium members.
The Eurofighter, a joint production of Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom, requires approval from all four nations for any prospective sale to materialize.
Following the completion of technical studies, negotiations for an agreement are expected to take place between Turkey and the Eurofighter consortium members.
When Defense Minister Yaşar Güler announced last November that Germany had dropped its objection to the sale of the Eurofighters to Turkey, he said, “We will buy 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets.”
“Germany has been resisting for a very long time, but finally, with the positive contributions of our NATO friends Italy, the UK and Spain, Germany has responded positively.”
Under German law, the sale of weapons that can be used in combat is evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with a separate license required for each transaction.
Berlin gave its initial green light just days before German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s visit to İstanbul in October, where he met with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Technical discussions regarding the sale of Eurofighters to Turkey were subsequently held under the leadership of the United Kingdom.
In these talks, to which Germany did not object, issues such as which aircraft would be purchased, how and how often maintenance would be conducted if the planes were acquired, and how training would be provided for the pilots operating the fighter jets were addressed.
Turkey plans to procure a total of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 4 fighter jets in a 20+20 configuration. All of the Tranche 4 jets, which represent the most advanced version of the aircraft with enhanced air-to-air combat capabilities, will be newly produced.
However, Ankara may also procure a small number of second-hand Typhoons for training purposes, an option currently under consideration.
Additionally, the procurement of Meteor air-to-air missiles along with the aircraft has been set as a condition by Ankara to London.
The Meteor is an advanced beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile system that significantly enhances air combat capabilities against long-range maneuvering targets even in environments with heavy electronic countermeasures.
The total cost of the procurement is expected to be at least 5 billion euros for the acquisition of 40 Tranche 4 Typhoons.