BAE Systems Begins Front-Fuselage Assembly of Türkiye’s First Typhoon

The announcement from BAE Systems Air on Nov. 5, 2026, comes one year after Türkiye signed its Eurofighter contract.

Ankara became the program’s tenth operator under that deal.

Work on the same airframe is running in parallel across the consortium.

Airbus Defence is producing the center fuselage of the first Turkish aircraft in Germany.

Production Across Partner Nations

The Eurofighter consortium comprises BAE Systems, Airbus Defence and Space, and Leonardo.

Partner nations are the U.K., Germany, Italy and Spain.

Under the consortium workshare, the U.K. builds more than a third of every Typhoon.

Samlesbury manufactures major units including the front fuselage, spine tank and tail section.

Final assembly of the Turkish jets is set for BAE’s Warton facility in Lancashire.

Dave Ward, BAE’s vice-president for Türkiye, framed the milestone as a delivery test.

“This is an exciting moment for the programme and a demonstration to our Turkish customer that Europe’s defence industry is working hard to deliver on our commitments to them,” he said.

Representatives of the Turkish Air Force recently visited the Samlesbury plant to inspect progress.

Contract and Support Package

The deal was signed in Ankara on Oct. 27, 2025 during a visit by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

It covers 20 new-build aircraft.

Some reports put the value for aircraft and weapons at about £5.4 billion ($7.2 billion).

Including support, the total package has been reported at up to about £8 billion ($10.7 billion).

A separate support and training agreement followed in March 2026.

BAE is prime contractor on the roughly £2.5 billion training and support package.

It covers spares, repairs, training, support equipment and technical services after entry into service.

BAE’s half-year results on July 30, 2026, said manufacturing was already underway in the U.K. and partner nations.

Air-sector order intake for the first half included about £2.5 billion for the Turkish support package.

Delivery Timeline and Configuration

First delivery is scheduled for 2030.

Turkish National Defense Minister Yaşar Güler set out the schedule in December 2025, according to defense reporting.

Six aircraft are due in 2030, eight in 2031 and six in 2032.

The jets will be built to the Tranche 4 production standard, according to defense reporting.

The package is expected to include air-to-air and air-to-ground munitions.

Güler has cited the Meteor beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile among the weapons.

BAE has separately outlined plans to nearly double Typhoon output to support Türkiye and other customers.

Training Pipeline

Türkiye’s Ministry of National Defense said flight personnel would begin traveling to the U.K. from August 2026.

The Royal Air Force is to train 10 Turkish instructor pilots and about 100 maintenance instructors.

The first two Turkish Air Force pilots have begun Typhoon conversion training at RAF Coningsby, according to defense reporting.

A Bridge to KAAN

The Typhoons are widely described as a bridge capability while Türkiye develops its indigenous KAAN fighter.

Ankara was removed from the U.S. F-35 program after acquiring the S-400 system.

Germany had earlier backed the Eurofighter sale to Türkiye despite Greek objections.

That cleared a key consortium hurdle before the October 2025 contract.

“Typhoon will become a key part of Türkiye’s frontline, further strengthening its position as the backbone of NATO’s combat air power and this latest milestone is an important step towards making this a reality,” Ward said.