Britain has secured a deal to sell 20 fighter jets to Turkey for £8bn.
The agreement for new Eurofighter Typhoon warplanes deepens ties between the two NATO allies and boosts Turkish air defences.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signed the deal during a visit to the Turkish capital, Ankara, on Monday, calling it a “win for British workers, a win for our defence industry, and a win for NATO security”.
It’s the largest fighter jet deal in almost 20 years – the cost of which has raised eyebrows – and is expected to help support thousands of British jobs.
Turkey has sought the jets to make up ground with regional rivals like Israel, which has unleashed airstrikes across the Middle East this year.
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Europe, meanwhile, appears to be increasingly turning to Turkey as it seeks to reinforce its eastern flank.
Ankara has the second largest military in NATO and may be asked to backstop any post-war stabilisation force in Ukraine.
Foreign news reporter
Able to travel at searing speeds of up to Mach 1.8 – 2,222mph – the Typhoon fighter jet can carry out a variety of roles including high-intensity combat, the RAF says.
First deployed with the RAF above Libya in 2011, the Typhoon has since been used in Iraq and Syria since 2015 as Western nations have sought to strike Islamic State targets.
The UK is among several countries that have stocks of the Typhoon, along with Germany, Italy and Spain.
In recent years the fourth-generation Typhoon has lost ground to the fifth-generation F-35, which has advanced stealth capabilities, but the Eurofighter has remained a key part of UK defence as a multirole fighter.
They are frequently called upon to intercept and shadow Russian aircraft near UK airspace.
The UK is set to replace it with the Tempest sixth-generation fighter from 2035, which is still in development.
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Eurofighter Typhoons are produced in a partnership between the UK, Germany, Spain and Italy.
For years, Turkey’s pursuit of the Typhoon had been blocked by Germany’s veto but Berlin has now green-lit the deal.
Around 37% of production takes place in the UK, including final assembly at BAE Systems plants in Warton and Samlesbury, near Preston, Lancashire.
