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.
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?
We can only hope they are T1. If coming out of the active fleet then this teeters on dereliction of duty.
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
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 ?
Let’s just cross our manual digits that it means we’ll get some shiny new T4s for a cut-down price rather than destroying the RAF then shall we?
Mate, It’s a bit like being a Life long Spurs supporter !!!
Only a life long Spurs supporter will truely understand !
According to a reply to an FOI I put in the T1s are all presently operational and allocated to squadrons.. but I have noticed that the RAFs responses to FOIs can essentially be taken as fantasy.. as there response was they had 120 typhoons allocated to squadrons.
Allocated to sqns doesn’t always mean in service.
True
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.
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.
Well I hope you are right Robert. The article mentions they will be T4’s. We don’t have any yet do we ?
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.
Reviled and revealed:-)
Slip of the finger on a small screen 👍
Robert, how are you reading it that way, what am I missing ?
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).
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.
Just to clarify, It is 120 they said and not 1200 ?
My Heed Is a wobbling !!!
Yep 120..
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.
A whole new meaning to sell your grandma
Argus is basically the Navy’s Grandma, and is probably actually worth selling given its age!
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.
It’s not a myth.
The spanish upgrade is to their own standard and not near T4 standard
I’m going for a lay down. 😞
No, It’s OK lads, just saw we were giving Turkey these and Akrotiri as well so we don’t actually need them anymore.
You jest. But I fear this government could actually be that stupid.
That would make sense and if we handed back the Falklands that’s another load off….
Scotland next ?
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’s what the UKDJ is sourcing for this article. And TBH they didn’t even source it that well considering the changes they made.
Well it’s what U.K. Defence Journal is quoting for this piece. I’m guessing you were too excited to post a comment that you didn’t bother reading the article.
As excited as you were to have a go again.
Living down to your username again 🤡
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.
Ha, bless 😁😁😁
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.”
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.
Yes, exactly what it says and how it reads. The very fact that It says Turkey are purchasing all 40 nullifies any RAF basing in Turkey. RAF Personel are not being bought.
Exactly, & as usual the front line forces take the hit!
The report the U.K. Defence Journal is quoting is from Middle East Eye which is what I quoted from verbatim. Or did you not bother reading the article properly before commenting? FFS 🤦🏻♂️
Hey Spock, why such attitude to everyone ?
I’ve yet to see you being civil to anyone here.
How about maybe making up a few false accounts so you can join in ? 😁
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.
This all needs proper clarification.
Now THERE would be a useful Parliament Question-Answer exchange to be reported on UKDJ.
Can members of the public submit a parliamentary question?
Nope you have to ask your MP and see if they will do it. But most of them only ask suck up questions their parties want to be asked ( in my opinion).
I think there is a mechanism if you start a petition, but you need a lot of signatures before the government is obligated to respond.
Best to badger your MP with emails as Jonathan suggests.
What it needs is for U.K. Defence Journal TL follow established practice for journalism and to verify from a second source, rather than mangling the reporting of another single news source.
Great thinking Batman, erm sorry Spock, (well they both have pointy ears and only come out at night !)
Looking forward to Trick or treat ?
Take your meds moron 🙄
This is not a war you will win, trust me
Germany (20) Italy (24) and Spain (25) have placed recent orders for new Typhoons. The production lines will be active.
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.
Is that the railway for the Gravy Train ?
In some ways (inflation, interest rates, cost of living) Turkey is in a worse shape than Britain, yet can buy 40 Eurofighters.
It was recently reported that turkey was in negotiations with Qatar and Oman to buy their typhoons.
So the wording in the article is totally wrong then ?
Interesting article on army-technology; Oman pondering whether to follow the UK and upgrade its 38 CR2 tanks to CR3 or to replace them with a new tank. Could there be 38 pre-loved CR2 on the market?
Well given this article, I wouldn’t bet against the UK selling them 38 of our C3’s.
FFS.
Now this is all too much, way too upsetting.
Or 148+38= 186 CR3 for the British Army. Could this make sense?
Not If this current Article is true
Cut’s cuts and more bloody cuts.
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
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.
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.
Fygle is Conservative
Fylde
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.
“far left”! 🤣 Righttrash copium is hilarious 💩👌🏾
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.
Well when it comes to Islands, we actually pay for them to be given away.
It’s Genius economics.
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.