In line with the plans recently floated regarding the acquisition of aircraft from Oman and Qatar, the Air Force of Turkiye would be preparing to receive its first Eurofighters next February, which is why its first pilots have already begun their training and instruction in order to operate them. In particular, the institution is reportedly expecting to add a fleet consisting of a dozen aircraft, seeking to speed up the induction process for the fighters that were acquired from the United Kingdom last year after multiple back-and-forth negotiations.
The development in question is taking place almost simultaneously with the holding of a meeting that brought together delegations from the three countries mentioned so far. According to local reports, the event was attended by the Chief of the Turkish Air Force, General Ziya Cemal Kadioglu, together with his Qatari counterpart and a delegation of representatives from the Royal Air Force (RAF), with the city of Doha as the venue and the main objective being to discuss the process of incorporating the Eurofighters into Turkish arsenals.
It is important to recall at this point that Ankara will add 20 new Eurofighters from the United Kingdom, for which it has invested an amount of 8 billion pounds, formalizing the corresponding agreement toward the end of last October; an occasion on which British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the Turkish capital to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. As a significant agreement both for the manufacturer to sustain production lines with more than 20,000 jobs linked to them, and for the renewal of Turkish air capabilities, it foresees the arrival of the first six aircraft in 2030, eight additional ones in 2031, and the final six in 2032.
While this process is taking place, it should also be mentioned that the Air Force of Turkiye is not only working on the training of its future pilots, but also on the development of indigenous weaponry in order to integrate it into its new Eurofighters; an issue that would have been addressed in recent meetings with the British delegation. In this regard, it is worth highlighting that the country has already been conducting a series of tests with its new Gökdoğan and Bozdoğan air-to-air missiles, as well as with the SOM-J anti-ship models developed by Aselsan; as part of the package already acquired, the aircraft will be equipped with Meteor missiles.
In the case of those aircraft acquired from Qatar and Oman, the need to modernize their radar systems with new AESA systems must also be considered, something that the Turkish industry also intends to address with its own products. While this issue is relevant, it still lacks definitions regarding the model selected, as well as details on the costs and delays associated with it. For the time being, the British embassy in Turkiye stated: “Turkiye has made its intention clear. The United Kingdom will work with Turkiye to achieve the best possible outcome.”
Images used for illustrative purposes
You may also like: Despite Israel’s opposition, the United States continues to evaluate moving forward with the sale of F-35A stealth fighters to Turkiye
