TR Turkey could acquire around 80 Eurofighter Typhoon Fighter Jets

[Cabatli_TR]

According to a Turkish official contacted by Defense News, the most serious option would be the Eurofighter Typhoon, produced by a consortium bringing together BAE Systems, Airbus and Leonardo.

Anyway, the Turkish defense official interviewed by Defense News confirmed that the Typhoon can be an "option", with the prospect of an order of around 80 aircraft. “These planes can even be assembled in Turkey, although they have a higher price then,” he said.




The Turkish government has been looking for solutions to modernize its combat aviation, which is mainly based on old-generation F-16 C/Ds as well as F-4E Phantom IIs. In recent months, Ankara has thus discussed the possible purchase of Su-57 "Felon" or Su-35 "Flanker-E" from Russia... and has said that it is considering possible cooperation with the Russian aeronautical industry to carry out its TF-X next-generation combat aircraft program.


Then, recently, Turkey expressed its wish to acquire 40 latest version of the F-16, called "Viper", as well as 80 kits to modernize part of the old generation F-16s implemented by its air force.

Only, such an order will have to obtain the approval of the United States Congress... And this one is not necessarily in the best disposition with regard to Ankara, in particular because of the tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean and its role in Syria, in Libya as well as in the last Nagorno-Karabakh war, having opposed Azerbaijan and Armenia, in October 2020. In addition, the purchase of the S-400 remains a bone of contention.

That said, Russia's invasion of eastern Ukraine may be a game-changer for Ankara, which, as a reminder, is close to Kiev [to the point of providing it with Bayraktar TB-2 drones] while being dependent on Moscow for its energy and grain supplies. In addition, Turkey had the opportunity to recall that it is a "strategic" member for NATO due to its ability to block the Dardanelles and Bosphorus straits, thus limiting the movements of Russian warships. But it is not certain that this is likely to encourage the purchase of American F-16s… or even their reintegration into the F-35 program.

La Turquie pourrait acquérir environ 80 avions de combat Eurofighter Typhoon - Zone Militaire

Pour avoir acquis des systèmes de défense aérienne russe S-400 "Triumph" évidemment incompatibles avec ceux de l'Otan, la Turquie fut exclue par

www.opex360.com

 

[Manomed]

Tbh Typhoons are great jets

 

[TR_123456]

To costly,training,maintenance,to many flaws.
How many has Germany operational?
I believe,only one third of the 143 is operational.

Handful of Germany's Eurofighter jets combat ready — report – DW – 05/02/2018

The report is the latest to cast doubt on Germany's military capabilities and readiness. It raises questions of whether Germany is really meeting its NATO commitments.

www.dw.com

Budget Cuts Have Grounded the German Air Force

German military strength has declined since the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the Soviet threat that compelled Germany to build well-trained and well-equipped armed forces.

nationalinterest.org

German Air Force chief: The service is undergoing upgrades to meet future challenges

The German Luftwaffe is upgrading its assets to bring it up into the pinnacle of today’s military aviation capabilities.

www.defensenews.com

The German Air Force Is Falling to Pieces

Germany’s air force is in a lot of trouble, according to its leader “The Luftwaffe is at a low point,” Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, Germany’s new chief of the air force, said in a speech on June 27, Reuters reported . The Luftwaffe is the official name of branch. Gerhartz added: “Aircraft...

warisboring.com

The German Air Force in Transformation – Fit for the Future

www.bundeswehr.de

 

[RogerRanger]

Finally some British exports. Thank you Turkey!!!!!!!!!!!!

All in all the modern Typhoons are likely the third best 4th generation AAW jets. After the Su-35 and new build F-15's. So they are better than the Rafale, but they cost about 130 million Euro's per jet, so they are very very expensive, partly because so few of them are being built. They are way better than the F-16 or anything else the Turkish air force has right now. This would be huge if the British could get this over the line and it would further block French attempts to push into the English channel and eastern Mediterranean.

 

[RogerRanger]

To costly,training,maintenance,to many flaws.
How many has Germany operational?
I believe,only one third of the 143 is operational.

Handful of Germany's Eurofighter jets combat ready — report – DW – 05/02/2018

The report is the latest to cast doubt on Germany's military capabilities and readiness. It raises questions of whether Germany is really meeting its NATO commitments.

www.dw.com

Budget Cuts Have Grounded the German Air Force

German military strength has declined since the end of the Cold War and the disappearance of the Soviet threat that compelled Germany to build well-trained and well-equipped armed forces.

nationalinterest.org

German Air Force chief: The service is undergoing upgrades to meet future challenges

The German Luftwaffe is upgrading its assets to bring it up into the pinnacle of today’s military aviation capabilities.

www.defensenews.com

The German Air Force Is Falling to Pieces

Germany’s air force is in a lot of trouble, according to its leader “The Luftwaffe is at a low point,” Lt. Gen. Ingo Gerhartz, Germany’s new chief of the air force, said in a speech on June 27, Reuters reported . The Luftwaffe is the official name of branch. Gerhartz added: “Aircraft...

warisboring.com

The German Air Force in Transformation – Fit for the Future

www.bundeswehr.de

That's a fair point. The RAF has similar issues with ours too. However much less so than the F-35's or when we first used them properly in Libya.

 

[TR_123456]

That's a fair point. The RAF has similar issues with ours too. However much less so than the F-35's or when we first used them properly in Libya.

The difference being the generation(4 against 5).

 

[RogerRanger]

The difference being the generation(4 against 5).

I think the difference is the stealth and avionics, the Typhoon is a much more high performance jet. So if you want an AAW interceptor then the Typhoon is good, it also has great avionics and missiles, which the Turkish can integrate as well. Ideally you would have just got the F-35A and replaced all your 4th generation aircraft. What Turkey is finding is that it has to not involved itself between the US and Russia, so it can't buy Russian or American anymore. It needs to do it itself or buy from Europe, which is acceptable to the Americans and Russia. You can't just pick and choose the best stuff from whichever country, they don't allow you to do that.

If you want to diminish what the French are doing and the Americans in the Mediterranean, the best option is Britain/German/Italy/Spain, you could become the most important export market for these 4 nations. Giving you access to great military equipment and technology, and allowing you to remove yourself from the Russian and USA conflict, while annoying the French. You can also get great stuff from Japan, South Korea and Sweden too.

 

[Saithan]

I think the difference is the stealth and avionics, the Typhoon is a much more high performance jet. So if you want an AAW interceptor then the Typhoon is good, it also has great avionics and missiles, which the Turkish can integrate as well. Ideally you would have just got the F-35A and replaced all your 4th generation aircraft. What Turkey is finding is that it has to not involved itself between the US and Russia, so it can't buy Russian or American anymore. It needs to do it itself or buy from Europe, which is acceptable to the Americans and Russia. You can't just pick and choose the best stuff from whichever country, they don't allow you to do that.

If you want to diminish what the French are doing and the Americans in the Mediterranean, the best option is Britain/German/Italy/Spain, you could become the most important export market for these 4 nations. Giving you access to great military equipment and technology, and allowing you to remove yourself from the Russian and USA conflict, while annoying the French. You can also get great stuff from Japan, South Korea and Sweden too.

I you look at how Germany got in the way of exporting MTU tank engine to Turkey, you'd probably have more realistic view on the chances of Germans approving sales of Typhoon to Turkey.

I think the Jet engine cooperation with UK is more realistic and we should aim to have Hurjet and TFX up and flying much faster

 

[Ryder]

Eurofighters are formidable and beautiful

 

[Khagan1923]

The problem with the Eurofigher is not if its good or bad. It is better than the F-16 we have and even better than the F-16 Block 70. The problem is Germany. Unless Britain can promise a smooth transaction the Eurofighter will be a no go for Turkey.

Then you have the price.

Kuwait paid close to 9 Billion Dollars for 28 Fighters in the Tranche 3 standard.

Germany is paying 5 billion Euros for 38 Tranche 4 Fighter, BUT Germany has already the needed infrastructure in place and is partner in the program which would lower the price per plane by a good amount.

I couldn't find any information on Qatar and its aquisiton of the Eurofigher not even which standard it is going to be. (Most likely Tranche 3A but there is no price given).


Turkey will most likely pay close to 10 Billion Dollar, if it is green lit, for 40 new built F-16V, 80 modernization kits and other goodies such as missiles and pods. The Infrastructure already exists and pilots do not need training to fly the F-16. The TurAF knows the F-16 to the smallest screw.


Are we going to get 80 Eurofighters for 10 Billion Dollars? Is Germany going to no make a fuss? How much can Turkey trust that we will get spare parts in the future?
80 Fighters is not a small number. How much can Turkey bet on its Eurofighters not rotting away in storage because Germany once again is crying around and blocking spare parts that are needed to keep the birds flying?

Also timetable. How long until Turkey would get even its first wing active? How long until all 80 are delivered?

 

[CAN_TR]

Modernizing our current F-16 fleet is a better solution overall, the F-16 is still a pretty good aircraft and with modern avionics and AESA radar it's nothing to underestimate. I personally don't want to see foreign made aircrafts in our inventory no matter how good they are, one embargo and your expensive EF fleet for example will lack spareparts and already low combat readiness performance will drop to catastrophic levels.

We don't have the economic ressources to risk such "adventures" and it looks like the Air Force believes in the MMU and therefore not really interested in other aircrafts beside the F-16 and previously F-35. Our limited financial ressources should invested wisely into Turkish aviation and technology sectors not filling the pockets of foreigners.

 

[AverageMilitaryEnjoyer]

This is just so on purpose so that the US knows Turkey has other alternatives in case of an F-16 deny from the Congress. It is 98% not likely to come true but hey, it gives the U.S. a message.

I don't see the point of sharing it on the forum though.


Plus, Turkey should focus it's budget on MMU, especially since in case of an Eurofighter order, they would arrive +/- at the same time with the MMU. So, this is one of the reasons why I don't see it ever materializing.

 

[Yasar_TR]

Tranche 4 version of EF-2000 has the best Aesa radar in it’s class. It is a twin engined plane. It has much more advanced computers on board, than any other 4th generation plane around. It has the lowest RCS in it’s class.
But it is expensive to buy and maintain. It may cost us as much as 20 billion dollars to have 80 Typhoons. There will be new weapons and these weapons’ integration costs, new parts and training of pilots and ground crew and ground servicing costs too.
If Turkey chooses to go for the 80 planes, that means nearly 100 ej200 engines. Then it would be more feasible to produce these engines in house under license and there will be a synergy even, to extend the production, for the Hurjet‘s CAS version.
To set up a production line for these 80 planes at Tusas would be expensive. But not unfeasible.
If we go for these 80 planes, then the US “offer” for 40 F16s and 80 modernisation kits would be off the table. But our own Ozgur modernisation program should still proceed. Because we need those planes like yesterday. Typhoons may not be ready to join the fleet before 2027-28.

 

[tayyare]

I also don't think such a deal is likely, but we are yet to replace 48 F4s so I don't think it would be a terrible deal.

 

[TheInsider]

There won't be an EF-2000 deal.

This is just so on purpose so that the US knows Turkey has other alternatives in case of an F-16 deny from the Congress. It is 98% not likely to come true but hey, it gives the U.S. a message.

This is the reason behind this news.