The German government has given the green light to export Typhoon aircraft to Turkey.

Turkish Defense Minister Yashar Guler announced this during his speech on television.

According to him, the German government has finally responded positively to the export of Typhoon combat aircraft to Turkey as part of creating a reliable circle of suppliers.

To make this decision, the consortium states, namely the United Kingdom, Spain, and Italy exerted considerable pressure to implement this export agreement and receive additional contributions to developing the Eurofighter program.

The decision to purchase this type of aircraft is related to both the strengthening of the Greek Air Force, which receives modern Rafale fighters from France, and the unsuccessful negotiations to purchase American F-35A fighter jets. The new aircraft will be able to maintain the parity of forces in the region and provide the Turkish Air Force with new and modern aircraft.

As the German government’s obstacle has now been overcome, Turkey plans to start negotiations on purchasing 40 fighter jets shortly. It is not yet clear whether these will be new fighter jets or those in service with the air forces of a European user country.

Currently, the Turkish Air Force is planning to replace the obsolete F-4E Phantom 2 aircraft, which were upgraded to the Terminator 2000 version in early 2000. Despite the integration of new weapons and onboard systems, the aircraft has a finite airframe life, which calls into question its active and effective use in the event of war.

The order of 40 Typhoon fighter jets should fill this gap in the country’s air force due to comprehensive sanctions imposed by Turkey’s main partners, who were previously responsible for the country’s entire aircraft fleet.

The Eurofighter consortium has been actively working on modernizing and creating a new version of the Typhoon combat fighter jet, which will allow it to compete with other modern combat vehicles such as the Korean KF-21, French Rafale, and Chinese J-10C.

Starting in 2026, British-made aircraft will be equipped with a revolutionary airborne radar with AFAR, which will be able to rotate the antenna to scan larger angles of the front hemisphere, which will provide an advantage in capturing and tracking air targets at close range.

In addition, the aircraft will be upgraded with an electronic warfare system, which is the responsibility of the Italian company Leonardo, which is currently preparing to implement this modernization.

The aircraft are currently being manufactured at BAE Systems’ facility in Warton, England. The company has orders in its portfolio for aircraft production from Qatar, Kuwait, Spain, and Germany in the latest Trance 4 standard.