On October 27, 2025, during an official visit to Turkey, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed an intergovernmental agreement with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, a contract for the purchase by Turkey of 20 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters of the new Tranche 5 series, with an option for an additional indefinite number of aircraft. The production of Typhoon aircraft for Turkey will be carried out by BAE Systems Corporation, part of the European Eurofighter consortium, at its British facility in Wharton. The contract value is 5.4 billion pounds, and including the option - up to 8 billion pounds. Deliveries of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft to the Turkish Air Force are scheduled to begin in 2030.
The contract includes the supply of aviation weapons and a long-term package of service, technical and training support. The option for the contract could include eight to 12 Typhoon aircraft, and Keir Starmer said there was "a possibility of delivering more in the future." Earlier in July 2025, the United Kingdom and Turkey signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) regarding Turkey's intention to purchase 40 Eurofighter Typhoon Tranche 5 series fighter jets.
The agreement with Turkey was the first new contract for Eurofighter Typhoon fighters manufactured in the UK since 2017, and will support the British assembly line of these aircraft at BAE Systems in Wharton until the first half of the 2030s. Turkey has become the tenth customer of the Eurofighter fighter jet.
It is worth noting that at one time, in the 1990s and early 2000s, Turkey planned to purchase up to 60-80 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters, being considered their first potential foreign customer outside the member countries of the Eurofighter consortium. At that time, the planned purchase of the Eurofighter was considered by Turkish military and political leadership circles as one of the symbols of Turkey's expected accession to the EU. However, the subsequent political overtures on both sides and the removal of the issue of Turkey's rapprochement with the EU from the practical agenda led to the extinction of the topic regarding the acquisition of these aircraft by the Turks. The Turkish Air Force, however, continued to periodically show interest in these fighters, and the withdrawal of Turkey from the F-35 fighter program by the Americans for political reasons in 2019 again raised the issue of Turkey's purchase of the Eurofighter Typhoon. However, due to political resistance from Germany, the Turkish side had to pursue the possibility of concluding a contract for these aircraft for a long time, and the United Kingdom was chosen as their main supplier to Turkey.
In addition, on October 24, Turkish President Erdogan announced that Turkey was negotiating the acquisition of additional Eurofighter Typhoon fighters from the presence of the Air Force of Oman or Qatar, and that he had personally negotiated on this issue during a visit to the Persian Gulf region. "We have discussed the ongoing negotiations with the Qatari and Omani sides on the purchase of Eurofighter fighter jets," Erdogan said. "Negotiations on this technically difficult issue are progressing successfully." On October 27, Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Guler announced that Ankara plans to purchase 24 more Typhoon aircraft from Oman and Qatar. Recall that Oman has 12 Typhoon Tranche 3 fighters received in 2017-2018, and Qatar has 24 Typhoon Tranche 3 fighters received in 2022-2025, and has a preliminary agreement reached at the end of 2024 to purchase 12 more Typhoon Th 4 aircraft (possibly just to replace the aircraft that will be sold to Turkey).
The signing by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of an intergovernmental contractual agreement regarding Turkey's acquisition of 20 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets of the new Tranche 5 series. Ankara, 10/27/2025 (c) Anadolu
