ISTANBUL — Turkey’s $10.7 billion agreement to buy 20 British-built Eurofighter Typhoons marks more than a weapons purchase — it’s a recalibration of Ankara’s place in Western defense, an assertion of independence from Washington and a signal that President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan intends to remain indispensable to NATO.
The deal, finalized Monday during British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Ankara, is the first Eurofighter sale since 2017 and a lifeline for both countries’ defense industries. For Turkey, the jets fill an urgent capability gap as its aging F-16s approach retirement; for Britain, the sale sustains 20,000 jobs and restores a measure of industrial prestige.
For years, Mr. Erdoğan sought the U.S.-made F-35, but Washington’s 2019 decision to expel Turkey from the program — after Ankara purchased Russian S-400 missile systems — left Turkey’s air force lagging behind rivals Greece and Israel.
“You could look at this as a consolation prize,” said Sinan Ciddi, a senior fellow on Turkey at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a sharp critic of the Erdoğan government. “The Eurofighter is still a fourth-generation jet. It’s not going to provide Turkey a qualitative edge over the F-35s operated by Israel and soon by Greece.”
Mr. Ciddi said the move also underscores Mr. Erdoğan’s willingness to bypass Washington. “They’re going with the U.K., which is less restrictive,” he said. “The Turks are signaling to the Americans that if you’re not going to play ball with us, we’ll seek alternatives.”
For Mr. Starmer, who faces economic and political headwinds at home, the sale was a welcome success. Britain’s defense ministry called it the “largest fighter-jet deal in a generation.”
But critics in Europe say it risks empowering a leader accused of democratic backsliding and aggressive behavior toward NATO allies. “This is extremely short-sighted,” Mr. Ciddi said. “Turkey occupies EU territory in Cyprus, threatens Greece and Israel, and continues to erode democratic institutions. Starmer needs a win, and he’s overlooking all of that for an economic headline.”
The Turkish Air Force remains the alliance’s second-largest but has been strained by a shrinking pilot corps and aging hardware.
Retired Lt. Gen. David A. Deptula, dean of the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies and former U.S. Air Force deputy chief of staff for intelligence, told The Washington Times the Eurofighter purchase “shows healthy burden-sharing: Turkey is acquiring a NATO-standard fighter made by allied European partners, keeping it aligned with Western systems rather than defecting to non-NATO suppliers.”
“Turkey walking away from the F-35 was a hit on U.S. influence — and a really bad move on Turkey’s part,” Mr. Deptula said. “But Turkey’s turn to the Eurofighter Typhoon reflects a workable adjustment from a strategic perspective by staying in the Western industrial base.”
He added that Washington should learn from Ankara’s shift: “The key takeaways are to ensure multinational approvals are locked early to prevent holdups; separate sensitive tech release from broader co-production to safeguard unique capabilities and intellectual property; and invest in sufficient capacity and timely delivery in the U.S. export base so allies don’t go elsewhere.”
Israel’s air superiority in the region remains unrivaled. The Israeli Air Force operates 45 of its planned 75 F-35I Adir fighters, which are capable of deep-strike missions across the Middle East. Greece has taken delivery of French Rafales and is slated to receive F-35s by 2028. Both neighbors now field aircraft a full generation ahead of Turkey’s fleet.
“Developments in the region have shown that there is no difference between a country’s air power being weak compared to its rivals and not having any at all,” said Arda Mevlütoğlu, a defense and aerospace analyst based in Ankara who advises Turkey’s defense industry and government circles. “In the region’s intense military and technological threat environment, the Eurofighter Typhoon acquisition will serve as an important bridge to maintain deterrent capacity.”
Turkey’s bid to restore parity includes not just Eurofighters, but also a parallel campaign to integrate intelligence with Gulf partners. Turkish radar crews stationed at their Tariq bin Ziyad Base south of Doha have played a growing role in regional monitoring.
A senior defense source in Cairo told The Times that during the September Israeli strike on Qatar, “Turkish operators picked up the incoming aircraft first. They didn’t call Ankara — they called Hamas directly, warning them to get out. The Hamas leadership left the building minutes before impact.”
For Europe, the Eurofighter sale reinforces its push toward strategic autonomy amid uncertainty over the U.S. commitment to NATO.
“The instability sparked by Russia’s aggression, compounded by Trump’s moves, is pushing Europe and Türkiye toward a closer security and defense partnership,” said Eyüp Ersoy, a fellow in the Defense Studies Department at King’s College London. He added that deepening cooperation “offers both Europe and Turkey an opportunity for collaborative capability development.” Still, he warned that Ankara’s trajectory will depend on whether it uses the deal to anchor itself inside NATO or pursue a more independent defense posture.
German conservatives have expressed unease over the sale, noting Turkey’s disputes with Greece and Cyprus and its military presence in northern Syria. Yet as one editorial in Die Welt argued, “the alternative to engagement is estrangement — and in NATO, that’s a luxury Europe can’t afford.”
Analysts say Ankara’s modernization drive is timed to project strength ahead of the June 2026 NATO summit set to take place in the Turkish capital, where Erdoğan hopes to showcase Turkey’s re-emergence as a pivotal power after years of friction with Western capitals. Turkish officials say at least a dozen of the newly purchased Typhoons will be operational by then, complementing the Kaan prototype and positioning Turkey as both a producer and consumer of advanced NATO-standard airpower.
“The Eurofighter,” Mr. Mevlütoğlu said, “will serve as an important bridge to maintain deterrent capacity until Turkey’s next-generation Kaan fighter takes flight.”
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