UK Seals £8 Billion Jet Deal With Turkey in Signal to Putin

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said London has signed an agreement to sell Eurofighter jets to NATO member Turkey in a 10-year deal worth nearly $11 billion after talks Monday with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

"This is a really significant deal, because it's £8 billion ($10.7 billion) worth of orders... These are jobs that will last for 10 years, making the (Eurofighter) Typhoons, so really big for our country," Starmer said.

Britain's defence ministry described the order, which would involve 20 Eurofighters, as the "biggest fighter jet deal in a generation", saying it would strengthen Turkey's combat capabilities and bolster "NATO's strength in a key region".

"The UK will provide Turkey with 20 new Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft, with the option to provide more in the future," Starmer said after signing the agreement.

The deal would "bolster security across NATO, deepen our bilateral defence cooperation, and boost economic growth here and in the United Kingdom, securing 20,000 British jobs, building these state-of-the-art fighter jets", he said.

Erdogan hailed the agreement as "a new symbol of the strategic relations" with Britain.

He thanked the other members of the Eurofighter consortium for their "constructive approach".