British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to travel to Ankara on October 27, 2025, to meet with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, and finalize the sale of 40 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets for the Turkish Air Force.
Turkey has been in talks to purchase the European made fighter jets since at least 2023, with a deal having been finally agreed in July 2024 after Germany, which is also part of the Eurofighter consortium, lifted its objections to the sale.
Half of these 40 Eurofighters will come from the Royal Air Force (RAF) current inventory, while the other 20 will be new aircraft, built to Tranche 4 standards.
The RAF sent two of its Eurofighters to Turkey ahead of the Starmer’s visit in order to showcase the aircraft to Turkish officials and military staff.
The exact amount of the transaction has not been disclosed, but it is assumed to but it’s assumed to be a multi-billion dollar deal.
In parallel to the UK deal, the Turkish government is also in talks with Qatar and Oman to buy part of their existing Eurofighter fleets.
The European-made fighter jets are seen as a stopgap solution until the Turkish-developed fifth-generation fighter, called Kaan, becomes operational.
Developed by Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) the stealth, twin-engine Kaan fighter jet flew for the first time in February 2024 and is expected to enter service towards 2028.
But efforts to bolster the Turkish Air Force fighting capabilities have also a US dimension.
Turkey is also looking to either modernize its current F-16 fleet with the acquisition of 79 upgrade kits or acquire 40 new F-16 Block 70 aircraft, the latest version of the iconic fighter jet. Turkish decision makers at first appeared to favor the former of these options, but more recently seem to be leaning towards the latter, which would involve a smaller cost.
However, Turkey has not given up entirely on the procurement of F-35 stealth jets. In fact, the country was one of program partners until 2019, when it was kicked out after having acquired Russian-made S-400 air defense systems.
Recent conversations between Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and US President Donald Trump have brought to the fore the topic of Turkey’s readmission into the F-35 program. Turkish media have reported that, notwithstanding the progress in the development of the Kaan project, Turkey may be interested in acquiring up to 40 F-35 jets.
In fact, six F-35 which were destined for the Turkish Air Force were produced when the country was forced out, and remain in storage at Luke Air Force Base, in Arizona.
