British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to travel to Ankara to finalise a multibillion-pound Eurofighter Typhoon deal between the United Kingdom and Turkey, according to reports in local media Middle East Eye.

The visit, scheduled for Monday, would mark Starmer’s first official trip to Turkey since taking office.

The report said London and Ankara are preparing to conclude negotiations on the sale of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon jets, with two aircraft reportedly sent to Turkey ahead of the visit to underscore the deal’s significance.

Ankara has been in discussions with the UK, the lead nation in the Eurofighter consortium, since 2023. Talks reportedly moved forward after Germany lifted its opposition to the sale in 2024. A provisional agreement was reached in July, followed by continued negotiations over pricing and technical specifications.

According to the report, 20 of the aircraft may be ones currently operated by the Royal Air Force to enable faster delivery, while the remaining 20 would be produced later and modified to Turkish requirements.

The proposed deal covers the latest Tranche 4 version of the Eurofighter, which features upgraded radar and avionics. The Turkish Air Force is seeking a stopgap capability until the domestic Kaan fifth-generation fighter becomes operational in 2028.

For full coverage and further details, read the original report at Middle East Eye.

George Allison
George Allison
George Allison is the founder and editor of the UK Defence Journal. He holds a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and specialises in naval and cyber security topics. George has appeared on national radio and television to provide commentary on defence and security issues. Twitter: @geoallison
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138 COMMENTS

  1. You feckin what ? 20 might be from UK current RAF stock ?

    Can this government actually get any worse ?

    That’s just stupid.

    • That had better mean we replace them with our own modernised ones. Or maybe they are the older T1s that Turkey/iye will pay to upgrade?

      • If they are upgraded Tranch1’s then fantastic.

        If they are anything else it is unbelievable to reduce Typhoon numbers beyond far too few to ludicrously too few.

        If it is manufacture a T4 for RAF and sell a T2 to Turkey that makes sense but how is that faster than making new ones for Turkey?

        The 2028 deal date doesn’t make a huge amount of sense in that contract as it us nearly 2026 and these things are glacially slow to manufacture….unless of course BAE are actually allowed making them at commercial pace!

        • I suspect the govt is trying to replace our T1s with ECRS capable Typhoons cheaply, without buying new build T4. Spain has ordered 25 new build Typhoons and will release their T2 planes. My bet is that the UK will buy at least 20 maybe all 25 of these T2s to replace the 20 aircraft we release to Türkiye; which will probably be mostly T1s. The T2s can then be upgraded I think – not sure if it depends on block number.

          • If the T1’s are still intact enough to be upgraded and the numbers for Turkey made up with T2’s bought from Spain then great.

            If that means that the later Spanish T2’s can be upgraded to T4 for RAF then even better.

            But there is a piece of the jigsaw missing here…..that is 80 engines that need to be produced or upgraded to whatever precise specifications is required. Whilst it is true that quite a few EJ200 engines are in build for the announced new purchase and the refurb lines are hot for repairs and upgrades. I suppose other T4 parts are in manufacture for various new builds so it is a volume increase and not a line restart….

            Hopefully some clarity I achieved.

            Again this isn’t really a Labour deal but one started ages and ages ago but I sure Starmer will call it part of his Defence Industrial Strategy.

            I am pretty sure what cooked the F35 deal was Pentagon not being keen as well as Turkey not being too impressed with weapons integration pace. Just look at the UK specific needs and how they have not been addressed….enough to put anyone off!

          • The T1s have all gone now – RTP – I think. I wonder if we will just buy surplus Spanish aircraft, upgrade them and sell them to the Turks – perhaps that is what they mean

            • If the T1s have indeed all gone, you are probably right: the govt is simply helping BAE to get upgrade work and maintain jobs. Maybe upgrade work is preferred to assembly of new jets; more profitable and all part of the grand plan to transition to Tempest; who knows?

        • There has also been speculation about Qatar looking to offload its “older” Trance 3A models as some part of this deal, no idea if they are true or how exactly that would fit into this.

      • Well as far as I know, the T1’s are pretty much all US. (FI’s have 4?)
        So the statement that Turkey will get 20 from current RAF use seems to suggest they will be taken from the 100 or so still listed.
        That must be 20 that are servicable, so how many actual flight worthy Typhoons will that leave us ?

        It must be a mistake, surely ?

      • I suspect they will be the jets from Qatar that are jointly operated by the RAF. Turkeys president was in Qatar 5 days ago to sign an agreement.

        Qatar has more jets than it knows what to do with.

        • Defence Security Asia says that Turkey will get 12 Qatari Typhoons next year. There was also some speculation last year that Qatar would order 12 new Eurofighters. Israeli press claims all 40 Turkish planes are coming from Qatar and Oman (as did a Turkish website). The Pakistanis have said 12 from Qatar and 28 new.

          Nothing seems to fit with the numbers of 20 plus 20 in the article. I suhhest we wait for the announcement tomorrow to find out what’s actually going on.

      • Calling Robert Blay

        Tranche 1s are fundamentally different to later tranches so could they get upgraded to T4? I was under the impression they could not, so, where will they come from and will this this keep BAE producing more jets?

        Next, they are being replaced in 2028 by domestically built jets … could someone explained how that works?

        • I don’t believe T1s can be upgraded to T4 standard. Not at a sensible price anyway. It would probably be cheaper to order new build. They are very different jets.

        • I imagine in reality the domestically built Kaan will be complementing Typhoon rather than replacing it, at least initially. Separately, I suspect the 2028 in service date for Kaan is fairly optimistic.

    • They will be T1 airframes that haven’t been stripped for spares. All RAF T1s are no longer in service, and haven’t been since March this year. Except the 4 in the Falklands. They will remain until 2027. Most T1s operated on the OCU.

        • I thought T1s could not fir AESA radars due to power generation and structural constrains..ll the reason we retired them. So if they are T1s tgey will not have AESA unless they have major upgrades.

        • I’m presuming its 20 T1s, and then 20 new build T4s. Unless by some miracle we are ordering 20 new build Typhoons for the RAF and we will give them 20 T2 jets. I’m sure all will be reviled next week.

            • I think its a syntax thing. English is probably not the first language of the author of the mideast article.
              “20 will be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to allow for faster delivery”, would be read as “20 of those currently operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) etc”. The phrase does not specifiy whether the 20 are T1 ( likely) or T2 (unlikely).

            • It seem to be the only logical reason with the info available. We don’t have any new Typhoons on order. So it must be 20 T1s, then 20 new builds.

          • “ Meanwhile, Turkish broadcaster NTV reported that the UK would prioritise Ankara’s order by delivering aircraft currently being built for the RAF.

            The Turkish source added that Ankara and London must also conclude a separate maintenance and modernisation agreement covering the second-hand Eurofighter jets Turkey intends to purchase from Qatar and Oman.”

            The cited articles say odd things….

            “ by delivering aircraft currently being built for the RAF” – there are none on order!

            “ covering the second-hand Eurofighter jets Turkey intends to purchase from Qatar and Oman” – these feels plausible for the 20 fast delivery units.

            With possibly 20 T1s upgraded to some standard…

            I doubt we could sell Turkey a full fat T4 anyway it is just too sensitive.

            • I can see Qatar possibly being willing to sell some of their older T3A’s to Turkey given their ridiculous menagerie of jets, Oman giving up their most capable combat aircraft seems a bit odd, though I suppose they only have 12 of them anyway and I imagine the partial recent demise of Iran and its proxies makes some of the Middle East countries feel a bit safer than they used to.

      • What is funny as according to an FIO I got from the RAF there are loads of T1s still allocated to squadrons as over 120 typhoons in total are operational with squadrons.. this apparently was the status as of August.

    • The MOD would literally sell off anything that wasn’t nailed down, no matter how important. Got to get more cash for the next round of trials and evaluations and honorary knighthoods.

    • Based on what we’ve been told previously, tranche 1s would be completely uneconomical to upgrade to tranche 4 standard. And I don’t even think the RAF has 20 tranche 1s left intact.

      That would strongly suggest any aircraft coming from current RAF tranche 2 stocks, which is catastrophic for the RAF. Even if there was a budget to replace them, that wouldn’t happen fast enough to keep numbers up in the short term (otherwise Turkey would be just buying all new in the first place).

      • It’s a myth that T1 is uneconomical to upgrade. BAE states that it has never been asked to look at this by the MoD and Spain had already upgraded its T1’s and plans to fit AESA at some point.

          • Yes however they do plan to go further and fit the AESA radar as well. They plan to keep their T1 until 2040.

            No one has ever asked BAE to look at a T1 upgrade, we know this for a fact because BAE stated it in parliament.

            If BAE has never looked at this then no one in the MoD has any idea what it will cost so any claims it’s too expensive are pure guess work.

        • Too much time has passed, with too many changes. One wouldn’t upgrade a Mk1 Spit to a Mk14 or F16A to F16V . . not happening.

  3. No, It’s OK lads, just saw we were giving Turkey these and Akrotiri as well so we don’t actually need them anymore.

  4. Seriously? Am I the only person to bother checking what the cited original source actually said? 🤦🏻‍♂️

    From Middle East Eye: “One source familiar with the matter said that of the 40 jets, 20 will be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to allow for faster delivery.”

    So it sounds like a RAF force of 20 aircraft will be based there. Still not great as that means RAF pilots and aircraft moving there on a temporary basis. Hopefully these will be aircraft currently based in another country, and not those based in the UK.

    • Seriously ? Yes you are, I was going by what the author of the article actually wrote.
      This “Middle East Eye” of yours, is it any good ? never heard of it before.

    • It also says “being built for the RAF”. There aren’t any. Does anyone trust Starmer and Co. not to get rid of 20 RAF frontline aircraft? Tranche 1…fine, but if not what is he doing?

      • Which is why I wouldn’t believe anything from Middle East Eye… yet U.K. Defence Journal bases an entire article on this clearly inaccurate website.

          • Well if you want to believe regurgitated second hand reports from inaccurate websites then that’s your decision. But given your tendency to hysterical reactions to these stories it’s not going to help your blood pressure 🤷🏻‍♂️

            • So it begs the question why are you here ?Why be here If you think this is an “Inacurate Website” ?
              Actually It’s fine we see the reason you are on here everytime you Insult and condescend.

              Prime example right here.

              How many different names do you have ?

              • Well I’m here because The War Zone, while more accurate and detailed in its reporting, is very American centric.

                Navy Lookup also has good detailed articles, but they’re restricted to the navy and aren’t as frequent.

                It’s weird though that it’s the British sites have more stupid and ignorant commentators. In this age of Trump and MAGA I would have expected the American sites would be worse.

                UKDJ used to be good, but it’s clear these days in its desperation for clicks for advertising revenues that it’ll post any rubbish – the weekly Scottish independence articles for example.

                Heck you know it’s bad when even vatniks like “John in MK” no-longer bother with this site 😂

                • See ? you can be nice if you try. (sort of).

                  So you’re not a fan of Americans,
                  This Site is not as good as it once was, is desporate for clicks, is Scottish biased and you are only here because you hate americans !!!!

                  Lol.😂😂😂

        • There are multiple sources, some of which are independent of mideast eye.” Starmer’s visit comes at Erdoğan’s invitation, Communications Director Burhanettin Duran confirmed on social media Oct. 26.”

          • Wrong.

            There is only one source cited in the article above.

            Other news sources, such as the London Evening Standard, refer to Starmer’s visit and the Turkish purchase of Typhoons. But the ONLY news sources that mention a transfer of RAF Typhoons – either to be operated by the RAF or by the Turkish air force – ALL cite Middle East Eye as the source.
            So bad journalism, just like UKDJ.

              • Only when the source can be named and verified. Otherwise it’s at best a plant to influence rather than report, or simply made up by Middle East Eye (it’s way cheaper to invent stuff than do actual investigative reporting).

                • Not arguing your logic, but aren’t you applying the rigorous standards of an academic historian to journalism. Hardly a day goes by but that I hear a TV reporter say something like ‘ speaking off the record a government source told me they are going to do such and such…’.
                  There’s a new rumour about what Rachel Reeves will do in budget every day. It sells papers.

    • According to the report, 20 of the aircraft may be ones currently operated by the Royal Air Force to enable faster delivery, while the remaining 20 would be produced later and modified to Turkish requirements.
      Not “will” be operated by the Royal Air Force which indicates they will be from the RAF operational fleet.

  5. The wording in the source article is a bit different.

    >of the 40 jets, 20 will be operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) to allow for faster delivery. The remaining 20 will be delivered later and customised to Turkish specifications.

    The article also says the Typhoons currently being built for the RAF will be prioritised for Turkey. But the UK stopped building Typhoon in July.

    So either the production line has been restarted for an imminent RAF order, or maybe the article isn’t particularly accurate. I think the latter.

  6. I wonder if we got that £1.7 billion back from Turkey so they could build a railway. That money would have been handy to buy a couple of Eurofighters.

  7. In some ways (inflation, interest rates, cost of living) Turkey is in a worse shape than Britain, yet can buy 40 Eurofighters.

  9. Will the RAF get 20 replacements or will they lose another frontline squadron . No doubt some accounting trick from the government will say they will be replaced but somehow I doubt it

  10. Turkey bought the ‘surplus’ RAF C130J which are being supported by Marshall. Nurol Makina look to be front runners to supply the UK army with new patrol vehicles. Now this deal for Typhoons. Not to mention Scottish Ferries :-). Business with Türkiye is booming.

  11. The Govt is probably stupid enough to reduce RAF stocks to sweeten a deal so they can claim they are investing in Industry. Is the local MP at Warton Labour?
    They will claim these aircraft are being replaced by 12 “world class” F35A.
    The only way this could be stomached was if they gave away 20 T2 Typhoon and bought the RAF 20 F35A, which would be an upgrade in a sense of survivable and probably cheaper 5th gens.

  12. The far-left government continues its great effort to destroy the armed forces. They’re going to make the conservatives look good. Not a single additional order for ships, planes, or tanks., only cuts and more cuts. This should have even legal consequences.

    • Anyone thinking this government is far left needs to stop letting themselves be brainwashed by the right wing media and educate themselves on what far left actually means. This government is barely left of centre. Most of the countries media is right biased as its owned by rich people who want to get richer, they capitalise on how dim and easily led most of the population is and convince them anyone not sharing their philosophies is a die hard communist.

  13. With this government, anything military is up for sale. We’ll see if they don’t also sell Gibraltar, the Falklands, or the British Virgin Islands.

  14. I was happy until I read 20 were coming from the RAF. That better mean we put our own order in to at least replace them.

  15. I’m trying to optimistically assume that 20 Typhoons for immediate delivery are Tranche 1 aircraft. However it is unlikely that the UK still has 20 of those in flyable condition. It also seems very unlikely at the moment that Germany, Italy or Spain will help out by offering up a few of their aircraft. It’s far more likely that they will be taken from the RAF’s stock of Tranche 2 and 3 aircraft, which means that the RAF will in all but name have to disband a frontline Typhoon squadron due to lack of aircraft.

  16. 20 tranche 1 are going to Turkey. They have been retired early by the UK, so Turkey should still be able to get some use out of them. The other 20 typhoons for Turkey will be new builds.

    Per Jane’s, 1 April 2025: With 49 aircraft in the official inventory at the time of retirement (31 March 2025), the MoD said that four will remain on quick reaction alert duties with 1435 Flight in the Falkland Islands until 2027, 10 will be used for spares for the remaining Tranche 2 and Tranche 3 aircraft, 17 will be disposed of, 12 will be in storage for disposal, four will be used for ground training aids, and two are being considered for sale.

  17. C’mon guys stop sniping, you are better than that! I have a lot of respect for all the regular gang. The trolls, not so much, but that’s the nature of the beast. Granted this article would have benefitted from secondary sources of information. Take a look at Defense Here, its the Turkish defence journal. They have an article about the Eurofighters to Turkey, no mention of poaching RAF Typhoons. Let’s see what happens.

  18. Morning.
    It’s been a great thread, regardless of the dubious and unclear wording.
    I’ve enjoyed reading the comments and the takeaways afforded by various members.

    Very enlightening in so many ways.
    🤡

  19. The essential problem is that the UK, and her overseas interests, face a threat of a kinetic, conventional, attack by Soviet-Putin in the relatively near future. Without air defence, and the means to strike back, the UK will be overwhelmed and have to restart to a nuclear option to ward off such a threat (a la Sky’s “War Game” scenario).

    So in terms of Typhoons and the usual aircraft industry production time-frames, the UK needs to rapidly increase it’s available squadrons of Typhoons AND pilots NOW. Until the UK Gov orders more Typhoons, weapons, pilots, and infrastructure together with a fully-integrated layered air defence network, then to me it shows that the UK Gov is not serious about defence.

    My litmus test is does the UK Gov order 40+ Typhoons NOW as a stop-gap to Tempest, or it simply does not take the situation seriously.

    • Why do you think we would be overwhelmed? When Russian can’t overwhelme Ukraine after over 3 years of fighting. Its neighbour.

    • Has the Penny not dropped yet – WE ARE NOT GOING TO GO TO WAR WITH RUSSIA,they know it ,we know it,the Politicians keep flirting with the idea because it keeps with their narrative,that is what it’s all about !.

  20. shamefull, Turkey is not an ally and hasn’t been for a while with Erdogan
    Sell/donate T1 Typhoons to Ukraine instead! No way Saab can deliver 150 aircraft in a timely manner. as of now they produce an average 7 planes a year, ofc that can be increased but it takes years to ramp up hiring, production and supply chain.

    • Realpolitik. The ally we have is not always the ally we would want but never-the-less, the one we need. The control of passage between the Black Sea and the Med is a strong argument for alliance with Turkey. There are issues with Turkey, including the treatment of the Kurds both inside Turkey and in neighbouring countries but that, dispassionately, is of less concern to the UK than Russia having free and unmolested access to the Mediterranean in time of conflict.

      • sorry but that is a cop out. Turkey is playing a double game with Russia/Ukraine. they actively bypass sanxtions on Russia. furthermore it’s not just Black Sea access (Russia already has that with their ports) , Turkey is a problem for Cyprus (just like Russia’a illegal annexation of Crimea, etc… why the double standard?), constantly threatening Greece, meddling in Syria, illegal migration (a lot of the illegals coming through the channel and Europe are smuggled in by Turkish gangs).
        Erdogan is an islamist who has been directing Turkey on a collision with the west. sorry that you cannot see that.

  21. It’s not a cop out, it’s pragmatism. In the murky world of international relations standards, double or otherwise, are not so important. What matters is what course of action will you derive the most benefit from or the least harm. With regards to the UK’s involvement in Cyprus, our presence there is not challenged by the Turks. The Greek Cypriots don’t want us there and if they achieved unity with Greece then, very likely we’d be gone.

    It’s true that Russia seeks ports beyond the Black Sea, however, in an actual war I feel that the value of vessels stationed there would rapidly dwindle, entirely cut off from their home ports in Russia. At any rate, there is also the factor of NATO’s own ability to cross into the Black Sea to support its allies there.

    The issues we all have with Turkey will not be improved by pushing them towards Russia but NATO’s military position would actively be harmed.

  22. Per Reuters:

    A person familiar with the matter said that under a deal it is nearing with Britain on the Typhoons, Turkey would promptly receive 12 of them, albeit used, from previous buyers Qatar and Oman to meet its immediate needs, with 28 new jets coming in future years.

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