Record Defense Deal: Britain Sells 20 Typhoons to Turkey

Turkey has ordered 20 Typhoon fighter jets from Britain: a $10 billion contract and 20,000 jobs.

The United Kingdom and Turkey have signed a $10 billion contract for the supply of 20 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, the UK Government has announced.

This is the largest deal for the export of combat aircraft from the UK in the last 20 years, officials emphasized in a press release.

The contract will provide employment for about 20,000 people in Worthing, Samlesbury, Bristol and Edinburgh.

More than one-third of each aircraft will be produced in the UK, with the rest coming from Eurofighter partner countries.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the deal “a victory for workers, the defense industry and NATO security.”

The first Typhoon deliveries to Turkey are scheduled for 2030.

The contract saves BAE Systems’ production line in Wharton and guarantees jobs for local engineers for years to come.

Defence Secretary John Healey, in turn, emphasized that the deal also deepens the defense partnership between NATO allies.

The engines will be manufactured by Rolls-Royce in Bristol, and the radars by Leonardo in Edinburgh.

BAE Systems said that the contract with Turkey opens a “new chapter” in cooperation and retains the UK’s key defense competencies.

Earlier it was reported that Germany is also ordering 20 new Eurofighter Tranche 5 fighters as part of a defense package worth more than 7 billion euros.