Lightning strikes out, so Typhoon sweeps in as Turkey agrees to buy British jets instead
Britain has agreed to sell 20 Typhoon jets to Turkey in a deal worth up to £8bn – despite Ankara initially having wanted to buy the F-35.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signed the deal during a visit to the Turkish capital, describing it as a "win for British workers, a win for our defence industry and a win for Nato security".
The agreement is the largest fighter jet deal in almost 20 years and the first new order for UK Typhoons since 2017, helping support thousands of British jobs.
Turkey had been intending to buy fifth-generation US-made F-35 Lightning jets, but it was kicked out of the Lightning programme in 2019 after it chose to buy the Russian S-400 missile system, angering Washington.
Back in June, President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey had not given up on acquiring F-35 fighter jets from the United States and had conveyed its desire to rejoin the programme.
Speaking to reporters on a return flight from a Nato summit in The Hague, at which he met US president Donald Trump, Mr Erdogan said he hoped for progress following their discussions on the issue.
However, his hopes appear to have been dashed – to Britain's benefit – with the country now acquiring the 4.5-gen Typhoon instead.
The Typhoon deal represents the conclusion of long-running discussions, with Ankara reported to have been seeking to buy the jets since 2023.
In July, Defence Secretary John Healey signed a memorandum of understanding with his Turkish counterpart paving the way for the export deal after Germany reportedly signed up to the agreement.
Typhoons are produced in a partnership between the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Around 37% of the production takes place in the UK, including final assembly at BAE Systems plants in Warton and Samlesbury in Lancashire.
The first delivery of the new jets is expected to take place in 2030.
Mr Healey said: "This is another major export deal for the UK and is the biggest jet exports deal in a generation.
"It will pump billions of pounds into our economy and keep British Typhoon production lines turning long into the future.
"This deal goes far beyond the procurement of aircraft. It is the leading edge of the growing defence and industrial partnership between our two nations."
The supersonic twin-engine Typhoon has been a success story, being operated by a number of nations including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait and Qatar in addition to its original partners.
Unite, a union representing thousands of workers at BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo and other manufacturers in the Typhoon supply chain, welcomed the news of the Turkish deal.
General secretary Sharon Graham said: "This new Typhoon order is very welcome news for our members.
"Unite has been extremely clear about the need for having more British-built Typhoons in order to sustain jobs and vital engineering skills in the UK, especially in final assembly capability.
"Now our own Government needs to follow suit and buy new state-of-the-art British Typhoons to replace the RAF's ageing fast-jets."
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