With the German authorities giving its approval to the Eurofighter Consortium to begin talks on a possible sale of Eurofighter Hurricane fighter plane to Turkey, negotiations with Ankara at the moment are underway.
Based on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the UK is the Consortium member main the negotiations.
The Eurofighter Hurricane is a twin-engine multirole plane that’s now collectively produced by Airbus, BAE Programs, and Leonardo, three of the European Union’s (EU) greatest aerospace and defence contractors.
Since its induction in 2003, the Hurricane has undergone 4 important upgrades, with the Tranche 4 being its newest variant. In the present day, the fighter in its varied iterations is in service with Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, and Austria.
The Center East Eye studies that Ankara is in search of 40 Hurricane jets in a deal doubtlessly value upwards of $5.6 billion USD. Reviews add that Turkey may purchase the plane in a number of batches, with the preliminary set consisting of 24 plane.
Turkey’s curiosity in buying the Eurofighter Hurricane dates again to November 2023, when Yaşar Güler, the Nationwide Minister of Defence advised Turkish media that plans had been underway to request 40 items from the Eurofighter Consortium.
On the time, Güler remarked that Turkey’s capability to purchase the Hurricane was contingent on securing approvals from every of the Consortium members. By late 2023, Turkey had acquired a ‘sure’ from the UK and Spain, however Germany had but to offer its approval.
In June 2024, Ankara additionally signed a letter of acceptance (LOA) with the U.S. to accumulate new-built Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block-70/72 Vipers and as much as 79 F-16V improve kits for its current fighter fleet.
The entire worth of the brand new Turkish F-16 program was set at $23 billion USD. There are studies of Ankara doubtlessly diverting some assets from the F-16 program to assist fund a Hurricane buy. The improve kits and off-the-shelf munitions purchases could be impacted.
For its long-term air fight and industrial growth wants, Turkey can be creating a lead-in fighter coach (LIFT) and next-generation fighter plane (NGFA) through the Hürjet and KAAN, respectively.
