Turkey’s $10.7 billion (£8 billion) agreement to purchase 20 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from the UK also includes a comprehensive weapons package featuring MBDA Meteor and Brimstone missiles, a source familiar with the deal told Reuters on Wednesday.
The deal, signed in Ankara on Monday during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit, marks one of the largest defense agreements between the two NATO allies in decades. Both sides say the sale will strengthen Turkey’s air combat capabilities and deepen strategic cooperation as Ankara seeks to modernize its air force.
According to the source, the package includes the MBDA Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, an advanced short-range air-to-air missile and the Brimstone precision ground-attack missile.
Starmer called the deal “really significant,” saying it represents £8 billion worth of orders that will sustain British aerospace jobs for a decade. “These are jobs that will last for 10 years, making the Typhoons,” he said after talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
The British Defense Ministry previously described the sale as “the biggest fighter jet deal in a generation,” saying it would enhance NATO’s defense posture in a key region and secure 20,000 jobs in the United Kingdom. The agreement also includes an option for Turkey to purchase additional aircraft in the future, with the first batch expected to be delivered in 2030.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hailed the agreement as “a new symbol of the strategic relations” between Ankara and London and thanked the other members of the Eurofighter consortium, Germany, Italy and Spain, for their constructive approach to the export approval process.
British Defense Minister John Healey, who accompanied Starmer, said the deal “goes far beyond aircraft,” calling it the leading edge of a growing defense and industrial partnership between the two nations.
The purchase follows months of negotiations that accelerated after Germany lifted its veto on the sale in July, which had been imposed due to Turkey’s stance on Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Analysts note that the deal signals a major shift in Ankara’s defense policy after years of reliance on US hardware.
Turkey has been seeking to modernize its air fleet since being expelled from the US-led F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in 2019 over its purchase of Russia’s S-400 missile system.
A Turkish security source told Agence France-Presse this week that two Eurofighter jets had already arrived in Turkey, likely among those originally ordered by Qatar, which purchased 24 Typhoons in 2017 and later sought 12 more. Ankara has also expressed interest in acquiring 24 additional, lightly used jets from Qatar and Oman.
Analysts say the inclusion of advanced European missiles in the package will give Turkey’s air force capabilities comparable to those of regional powers such as Israel, which has launched multiple air operations across the Middle East this year.
The deal also coincides with warming relations between Ankara and Western capitals. British officials said talks on the purchase began in 2023 and that the agreement includes an option for Turkey to acquire more aircraft beyond the initial 20.
Despite enthusiasm in Ankara and London, some analysts have called the agreement expensive, though neither side has disclosed full financial details.
The signing ceremony took place against the backdrop of a domestic controversy in Turkey, where a prosecutor charged İstanbul’s jailed opposition mayor, Ekrem İmamoğlu, with “political espionage” linked to a businessman accused of spying for Britain.
Neither government commented on the case during Starmer’s visit.