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Britain and Türkiye signed a $10.7 billion agreement in Ankara for 20 Eurofighter Typhoon jets in late October 2025. It sounded like just another arms contract, yet beneath the numbers lies a far larger story: Europe has rediscovered Türkiye due to its security concerns and weariness of American hesitation. This time, not as a problem to manage, but as a partner it cannot afford to ignore. The Typhoon deal is one of Europe’s most consequential strategic moves in years, an investment in deterrence, industry and independence all at once.
Europe’s motivation rests as much in economics as in strategy. The Eurofighter program supports over 20,000 jobs across Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain. Britain’s BAE Systems alone expects to earn about $6.2 billion from the Turkish order, keeping its Lancashire lines active and suppliers across the continent engaged. The package is expected to include lightly used Typhoons from Qatar and Oman, which is a practical move that accelerates deliveries and gives Türkiye an immediate operational boost while Kaan advances. For a defense sector stretched thin by the war in Ukraine and inflation-driven costs, the contract brings both revenue and political momentum. What began as an export initiative swiftly became an industrial necessity, showing that in today’s Europe, security and economics are part of the same equation.
That urgency also reflects a deeper unease about dependence on Washington. Nearly four years of war in Ukraine, turmoil in Gaza, and Donald Trump’s return to the White House have eroded Europe’s faith in the American security umbrella. Selling Typhoons to a NATO ally with proven operational experience allows Europe to test whether it can project power through its own supply chains. London framed the deal as “a model for NATO allies.” With Spain publicly abandoning the F-35 in favor of European jets in August, the trend lines in continental defense procurement are shifting.
Strategy without Washington
Washington’s caution toward Türkiye created precisely the gap that Europe is now filling. Ankara was pushed out of the F-35 program in 2019 and waited until early 2024 for the long-delayed approval of the F-16 Viper package. By the time Congress finally said yes, Europe had already acted. Turning an American veto into a European export became both a business calculation and a geopolitical statement. In doing so, Europe has taken a significant step in solidifying its defenses, and Türkiye reopened a door into the Western defense ecosystem.
For Ankara, the purchase is guided by realpolitik, not prestige. Until its domestically built fifth-generation fighter jet, Kaan is ready for initial deliveries in 2028, the Turkish Air Force needs a capable bridge of 4.5-generation fighters that can match Greece’s Rafales and Israel’s F-35s while maintaining full NATO compatibility. The Eurofighter fills that gap, restoring balance in regional air power and signaling that Türkiye is once again viewed as a stakeholder in Europe’s collective defense rather than a customer of last resort.
That shift in perception, however, would have remained symbolic without political will from Europe’s largest power. The breakthrough came when Germany joined the other Eurofighter-consortium partners in authorizing exports to Türkiye. Three months after Berlin’s green light, Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Ankara to sign the deal, calling it “a partnership of purpose.” Days later, Chancellor Friedrich Merz followed, describing Türkiye as “a close and essential partner” for Europe’s stability and energy security. The two visits showed how politics, economics and defense converged in Ankara. Merz needed to prove that Germany was serious about defense; Starmer sought to show that post-Brexit Britain still had global reach. Türkiye became the stage where both ambitions took flight.
But the consortium partners’ political unity did not guarantee regional acceptance. Reactions came fast and were divided. Greece warned that the move could erode its aerial advantage in the Aegean, where it is counting on a fleet of up to 40 F-35s for air superiority. Also, Israel called the development a “headache,” fearing it could complicate deterrence from the Levant to the Eastern Mediterranean. Yet the objections could not outweigh the momentum. For Europe, the deal keeps its industry alive; for Türkiye, it restores strategic balance and sets the stage for a deeper kind of cooperation.
Interdependence by design
What makes the agreement transformative is how tightly it binds Türkiye to Europe’s defense ecosystem. The integration of European missiles and avionics means Ankara’s maintenance, training and logistics cycles will increasingly run through European rather than American suppliers. That interdependence creates mutual leverage: Europe gains a dependable client and greater influence in Ankara; Türkiye diversifies its sources and accelerates the learning curve for its Kaan program. By the end of the decade, a Turkish fleet combining new and second-hand Eurofighters, upgraded F-16s, and the first Kaan jets will mark the country’s full transition to a multi-sourced, politically resilient air force.
Europe’s need for security and Türkiye’s capacity to provide it overlap pragmatically. One seeks autonomy from Washington; the other seeks acknowledgment as a power that cannot be ignored. Their interests compete and cooperate across the Black Sea, the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean, where rivalry and necessity now coexist. It is a partnership born of calculation that serves their interests across the region.
The Eurofighter deal is a clear sign that Europe’s security map is being redrawn and that Türkiye is back at its center. Washington’s block created the vacuum, and Ankara spent years looking for a way around it. Now, faced with a U.S. leadership prone to sudden turns, Europe has finally filled the gap that America opened. If European strategic autonomy ever takes flight, its first runway appears to begin in Ankara.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance, values or position of Daily Sabah. The newspaper provides space for diverse perspectives as part of its commitment to open and informed public discussion.
