Britain has signed an £8 billion sale of 20 Eurofighter Typhoons to Türkiye, confirmed in Ankara on 27 October 2025 during the Prime Minister’s first visit to the country. It is the first new order for UK‑built Typhoons since 2017, with ministers calling it the biggest fighter‑jet export in a generation.

According to the UK Government’s announcement, the programme sustains around 20,000 jobs nationwide, with production and assembly centred on BAE Systems’ Warton and Samlesbury sites in Lancashire, Rolls‑Royce’s EJ200 engine work in Bristol, and Leonardo’s radar manufacturing in Edinburgh. The Eurofighter workshare means the UK manufactures 37% of each aircraft, with partner production in Germany, Italy and Spain.

From an industrial point of view, this order stabilises a line that had gone quiet. Final assembly at Warton had paused earlier in 2025 as export batches concluded, prompting criticism from Unite and a redeployment of skilled staff. Separate industrial action scheduled from 5–25 November could still disrupt near‑term activity, so delivery timetables will depend on both labour relations and supplier readiness.

What changes for listed names? For BAE Systems, this extends the Typhoon book and helps bridge work ahead of the next‑generation GCAP aircraft. For Rolls‑Royce, the EJ200 engine work locks in high‑margin aftermarket over decades, while Leonardo’s Edinburgh radar line gains clearer run‑rate visibility. On a simple read‑across, a 37% UK workshare against an £8bn order implies roughly £3bn of domestic work content over the build phase, excluding weapons and long‑term support.

Timelines matter. The first delivery to Türkiye is slated for 2030, consistent with Eurofighter’s current lead times of around four years from contract to hand‑over and a planned production‑rate increase from roughly a dozen jets a year to 20, then up to 30 if further orders land. In short: cash flows are multi‑year and back‑end weighted.

Because Typhoon is a four‑nation programme, export approvals are collective. Berlin’s stance has been pivotal: Germany’s new government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz lifted its longstanding block in July, clearing the way for this signature alongside earlier UK‑Türkiye frameworks. That reduced a key political risk that had overshadowed talks through 2024.

Ministers frame the sale as a NATO gain as much as an industrial one. Türkiye’s air force will field a platform widely used across Europe, improving interoperability and air policing on the alliance’s south‑eastern flank and Black Sea approaches-points emphasised by the Ministry of Defence in today’s material.

There are political cross‑currents. Independent reporting today notes fresh legal moves against Istanbul’s opposition mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and renewed human‑rights concerns, with London saying economic ties can run alongside frank dialogue. Investors should be aware that such developments can re‑introduce scrutiny to future defence trade.

This is the second large export headline in as many months. In late August and early September, Norway selected the UK’s Type 26 frigate design in a deal pitched at about £10bn, expected to support around 4,000 UK jobs. The twin headlines point to defence exports becoming a larger component of the UK’s medium‑term manufacturing story.

Our read for retail investors and SME suppliers is straightforward. Watch for the formal production schedule, any option for additional aircraft, the pace of hiring at Warton/Samlesbury and strike resolution, plus long‑lead items across avionics and propulsion. Ankara’s separate interest in used Typhoons and the Eurofighter consortium’s planned rate increases are additional signals on throughput over 2027–2032.