Türkiye Nears Eurofighter Fighter Jets Deal with Qatar as Germany Lifts Export Roadblock
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is pursuing up to 24 secondhand Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from Qatar while negotiating for new-build jets and Meteor missiles. The move comes as Germany drops its long-held resistance, clearing a path for Türkiye to modernize its air force faster.
Bloomberg disclosed on October 21, 2025, that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan moved to secure up to 24 used Eurofighter Typhoons fighter jets from Qatar while Ankara also pursues a separate package of new-build aircraft and Meteor missiles from the consortium. London is brokering the Gulf transfer, with Tranche 3A airframes on the table and discussions around 16 new Tranche 4 jets, after years of German resistance that complicated a direct sale. Airbus now says Berlin will not stand in the way, but the secondhand path from Qatar and possible releases from Oman remain the quickest way to put Typhoons on Turkish ramps.Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Qatar’s Eurofighter Typhoons, delivered from 2022, are advanced Tranche 3A variants equipped with the Captor-E AESA radar, PIRATE infrared search and track, and the Praetorian defensive suite, giving them powerful multirole and air-superiority capabilities comparable to the latest European configurations (Picture source: BAE Systems).
Qatar’s jets are among the youngest Typhoons in service, delivered from 2022 onward and built to an advanced Tranche 3A standard with the Praetorian defensive suite and PIRATE infrared search and track. Oman fields 12 Tranche 3 Typhoons accepted by 2019, making both Gulf fleets viable donors if re-export approvals are cleared by all four partner nations. For Ankara, the attraction is immediate availability at a moment when production slots are tight and U.S. F-16 Block 70 deliveries are tracking toward the end of the decade.
The fighter jet would give Türkiye capabilities it currently lacks: a high-end, twin-engine air-superiority fighter with genuine multirole punch. Two EJ200 turbofans produce roughly 60 kN dry and 90 kN in reheat apiece, driving the jet to Mach 2 and enabling supercruise when lightly loaded. Thirteen hardpoints support a mixed air-to-air and precision-strike load, while the aircraft’s low wing loading and fly-by-wire control laws preserve energy in a merge. In short, it is the kind of platform that can police the Aegean by day and carry standoff weapons at night.
Tranche 3/4 Typhoons integrate the Captor-E AESA with a rotating array that widens the field of regard to about 200 degrees and extends detection beyond 200 km, backed by the PIRATE IRST for passive target cueing. Paired with MBDA’s Meteor, the jet offers no-escape zones that materially outclass legacy AMRAAM shots, while the Paveway/Brimstone/Storm Shadow family covers moving-target interdiction and deep strike. For Ankara’s planners, that mix translates into credible area denial over the Eastern Mediterranean and the ability to hold strategic infrastructure at risk without crossing dense air defenses.
Türkiye needs Typhoons because time is the one commodity its air arm lacks. The F-35 door remains shut, the indigenous KAAN will not deliver volume before the late 2020s, and even the newly approved F-16 package is unlikely to alter force structure before 2030. A tranche of Gulf Typhoons would plug the fighter-gap, restore deterrent headroom against Greece’s Rafale fleet, and give NATO’s second-largest air force a modern BVR and strike capability for QRA, air policing and cross-border counterterrorism sorties.
Eurofighter exports and re-exports require unanimous sign-off from the four partner governments, a process that has repeatedly snagged on Berlin’s licensing policy. Airbus’s chief now says Germany’s blockade has been removed and talks with Türkiye are in the “final stages,” yet licensing mechanics, production lead times and training pipelines still argue for a mixed approach: buy new where possible, but move fast on ready-to-transfer Gulf jets to hedge against any relapse in consortium politics. In effect, the Qatar and Oman track exists precisely because the UK-Germany-Italy-Spain joint program is designed to be consensual first and expedient second.
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
{loadposition bannertop}
{loadposition sidebarpub}
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is pursuing up to 24 secondhand Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from Qatar while negotiating for new-build jets and Meteor missiles. The move comes as Germany drops its long-held resistance, clearing a path for Türkiye to modernize its air force faster.
Bloomberg disclosed on October 21, 2025, that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan moved to secure up to 24 used Eurofighter Typhoons fighter jets from Qatar while Ankara also pursues a separate package of new-build aircraft and Meteor missiles from the consortium. London is brokering the Gulf transfer, with Tranche 3A airframes on the table and discussions around 16 new Tranche 4 jets, after years of German resistance that complicated a direct sale. Airbus now says Berlin will not stand in the way, but the secondhand path from Qatar and possible releases from Oman remain the quickest way to put Typhoons on Turkish ramps.
Follow Army Recognition on Google News at this link
Qatar’s Eurofighter Typhoons, delivered from 2022, are advanced Tranche 3A variants equipped with the Captor-E AESA radar, PIRATE infrared search and track, and the Praetorian defensive suite, giving them powerful multirole and air-superiority capabilities comparable to the latest European configurations (Picture source: BAE Systems).
Qatar’s jets are among the youngest Typhoons in service, delivered from 2022 onward and built to an advanced Tranche 3A standard with the Praetorian defensive suite and PIRATE infrared search and track. Oman fields 12 Tranche 3 Typhoons accepted by 2019, making both Gulf fleets viable donors if re-export approvals are cleared by all four partner nations. For Ankara, the attraction is immediate availability at a moment when production slots are tight and U.S. F-16 Block 70 deliveries are tracking toward the end of the decade.
The fighter jet would give Türkiye capabilities it currently lacks: a high-end, twin-engine air-superiority fighter with genuine multirole punch. Two EJ200 turbofans produce roughly 60 kN dry and 90 kN in reheat apiece, driving the jet to Mach 2 and enabling supercruise when lightly loaded. Thirteen hardpoints support a mixed air-to-air and precision-strike load, while the aircraft’s low wing loading and fly-by-wire control laws preserve energy in a merge. In short, it is the kind of platform that can police the Aegean by day and carry standoff weapons at night.
Tranche 3/4 Typhoons integrate the Captor-E AESA with a rotating array that widens the field of regard to about 200 degrees and extends detection beyond 200 km, backed by the PIRATE IRST for passive target cueing. Paired with MBDA’s Meteor, the jet offers no-escape zones that materially outclass legacy AMRAAM shots, while the Paveway/Brimstone/Storm Shadow family covers moving-target interdiction and deep strike. For Ankara’s planners, that mix translates into credible area denial over the Eastern Mediterranean and the ability to hold strategic infrastructure at risk without crossing dense air defenses.
Türkiye needs Typhoons because time is the one commodity its air arm lacks. The F-35 door remains shut, the indigenous KAAN will not deliver volume before the late 2020s, and even the newly approved F-16 package is unlikely to alter force structure before 2030. A tranche of Gulf Typhoons would plug the fighter-gap, restore deterrent headroom against Greece’s Rafale fleet, and give NATO’s second-largest air force a modern BVR and strike capability for QRA, air policing and cross-border counterterrorism sorties.
Eurofighter exports and re-exports require unanimous sign-off from the four partner governments, a process that has repeatedly snagged on Berlin’s licensing policy. Airbus’s chief now says Germany’s blockade has been removed and talks with Türkiye are in the “final stages,” yet licensing mechanics, production lead times and training pipelines still argue for a mixed approach: buy new where possible, but move fast on ready-to-transfer Gulf jets to hedge against any relapse in consortium politics. In effect, the Qatar and Oman track exists precisely because the UK-Germany-Italy-Spain joint program is designed to be consensual first and expedient second.
Written by Evan Lerouvillois, Defense Analyst, Army Recognition Group.
Evan studied International Relations, and quickly specialized in defense and security. He is particularly interested in the influence of the defense sector on global geopolitics, and analyzes how technological innovations in defense, arms export contracts, and military strategies influence the international geopolitical scene.
