The Turkish air force, a NATO force, needs to replace the F-16s while waiting for the new domestically produced Kaan fighter. But also to become a full-fledged Western partner. So it purchases 20 new multi-role aircraft for almost ten billion euros.
An important agreement between Turkey and Great Britain: yesterday the agreement was signed for the acquisition of twenty examples of the Eurofighter Typhoon combat aircraft intended for the Turkish air force for a contract value of eight billion pounds (approximately 9.5 euros). This is an important sale for the Eurofighter consortium (Great Britain, Germany, Spain and Italy), which was blocked by the German parliament for a long time. But now that the green light has allowed the sale to be concluded, relations between Ankara and Berlin are also more relaxed, so much so that the visit to Turkey by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has been announced for 30 October. The announcement of the signing of the contract for the airplanes was made by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan during the meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer which took place in Ankara at the same time. “At the end of the meeting we signed the contract” declared Erdogan, “today is a historic day in the strategic relations between our two allied countries. I thank Prime Minister Starmer and invite the allies to have the same constructive approach as Great Britain”. For his part, the British Prime Minister commented: “This is a victory for British workers, for our defense industry and for NATO security.” The order for the new warplanes was supposed to be 40 examples, but their number was then halved while maintaining the option to extend the order in the near future. From a technical point of view, there will be twenty Eurofighters of the most recent version, the one used by the Royal Air Force, in order to reduce delivery times, while the possible other twenty aircraft in option will eventually be built by integrating Turkish requests. Turkey has wanted Eurofighters for a long time and for this reason it is negotiating the acquisition of twelve second-hand examples from Qatar and the same number from Oman, wanting to create three Air Force squadrons equipped with these aircraft. The press release of the Eurofighter Consortium announced the Anglo-Turkish agreement with these words: “Eurofighter Jagdflugzeug GmbH is proud to welcome the Republic of Turkey as a new member of the Eurofighter program. In fact, Turkey today becomes the ten nation operating the most advanced multi-role combat aircraft in Europe”. Jorge Tamarit-Degenhardt, CEO of Eurofighter, said: “We are pleased to welcome the Republic of Turkey to the Eurofighter program and look forward to supporting the Turkish Air Force in the delivery of our world-class weapon system. As a proud member of the Eurofighter family, Turkey will join our four core nations and five partner nations in collaborating to protect our skies and strengthen security across Europe, with a key role in covering the Black Sea flank.”
The order that also benefits Italy
During the Turkish trip, Prime Minister Starmer, accompanied by the Turkish Defense Minister Yasar Güler, the British Defense Secretary John Healy, the Chief of Staff of the RAF Sir Harv Smyth and the Commander General of the Turkish Air Force Ziya Cemal Kadioglu also visited both the two RAF Typhoons transferred to Turkey as part of the agreement between the two countries, and the factories of Turkish Aerospace Industries (Tusas), focusing on the characteristics of the sixth generation Kaan stealth combat aircraft. The press release from the Eurofighter Consortium also reports the news that the new order follows a series of recent orders from three of the four main nations that built the aircraft: Germany which will acquire another 20 jets, Spain 25 and Italy which has up to 24 examples under option. From the point of view of the industrial impact, various parts of the Eurofighter are built in Italy: the rear part of the fuselage, the left wing and part of the on-board instrumentation as well as systems such as the radar, the infrared targeting device (Pirate) and the communication and navigation systems. These are made by Leonardo, Avio Aero for the engines, Mbda Italia for the weapon systems and ELT Group for the protection electronics).
The geopolitical strategy between the Middle East and Africa
With this acquisition, the Turkish Air Force strengthens its capabilities to manage both national and regional threats; The Typhoon’s advanced avionics and multirole flexibility can offer significant advantages in air warfare and allows Ankara’s Air Defense to face an important transition phase due to the aging of approximately 250 American-built F-16 jets and the inability to acquire F-35s due to Trump’s veto. Indeed, although the F-16s are still effective in regional theaters, including the Balkans, the Caucasus, the eastern Mediterranean and North Africa, future threats may require more advanced capabilities. And with the Typhoons Erdogan imports technology (radar and equipment), spare parts, armament and pilot training. But above all, the Eurofighters will allow Turkey to operate effectively while waiting for its national fifth/sixth generation fighter, the Kaan, which should be ready for combat after 2028, to be ready. The Eurofighter has two engines and superior agility in short take-offs and landings compared to the F-16. It can operate on shorter runways, however it has a higher cost: around 90 million dollars per unit compared to 18 million dollars for the F-16, and operating costs are almost triple. But certainly the multinational roots of Eurofighter production deepen industrial ties with the main states of the European Union, potentially opening up mutual export opportunities in the defense sector. From an operational point of view, the Eurofighter has radar systems and long-range Meteor missiles for interception against threats that go well beyond its national airspace. Moreover, Turkey’s growing defense responsibilities extend from Syria to Africa. Finally there is an important geopolitical aspect: the agreement formed with the Eurofighter Consortium contributes to mending relations between Turkey and the European Union, in particular with nations such as the United Kingdom, Italy and Spain; finally it gives oxygen to the industrial activities of important companies such as Bae System, which could have suffered production interruptions due to a lack of orders.
