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Production of Türkiye's first Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jet is taking shape, with assembly of the aircraft’s front fuselage underway at BAE Systems' facility in northern England, the company announced on Thursday.
"The milestone marks the latest step forward in delivering 20 new Typhoon aircraft for Türkiye, one year on from the nation signing a contract to become the programme’s tenth operator," BAE Systems wrote on X.
Airbus Defense and Space is currently producing the center fuselage of the first Turkish aircraft at its facility in Germany, as key components are manufactured across the Typhoon partner nations, BAE Systems noted.
"This is an exciting moment for the programme and a demonstration to our Turkish customer that Europe’s defense industry is working hard to deliver on our commitments to them," said Dave Ward, BAE Systems' vice president for Türkiye.
"Typhoon will become a key part of Türkiye’s frontline, further strengthening its position as the backbone of NATO’s combat air power, and this latest milestone is an important step towards making this a reality," he said.
Representatives of the Turkish Air Force (TurrAF) recently visited BAE Systems' advanced production facility in Samlesbury, Lancashire, to see the latest progress.
Türkiye's Typhoon procurement took shape in 2025. Defense Minister Yasar Guler and then-British Defense Secretary John Healey signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on July 23, 2025, at the IDEF defense fair in Istanbul.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and then-British Prime Minister Keir Starmer finalized the deal for 20 new-build Typhoons in Ankara on Oct. 27, 2025. The contract covering the aircraft, mission equipment and munitions is worth about 5.4 billion pounds, while the British government put the total program value, including training and support, at up to 8 billion pounds.
BAE Systems is responsible for producing key structural components, final assembly and weapons integration. A technical and logistical support agreement was signed by Guler and Healey on March 25, 2026.
Deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2030. Türkiye is also in talks to acquire Typhoons from the inventories of Qatar and Oman, and the Eurofighter consortium on Wednesday listed a possible second batch of 24 new-build jets for Türkiye among its sales opportunities.
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