Per MoD Güler's latest words last week, 2 RAF Typhoons will visit Turkey on Dec 18, after joining a joint exercise in Qatar and land directly at Mürted/Akıncı.
tolgaozbek.com
Reading into this a bit more, I'm puzzled and this visit might be a little more unusual than the rest.
Firstly, 2 aircraft are I believe 2 RAF Typhoons from the joint RAF/Qatari joint squadron No. 12, which was reformed to train Qatari pilots and crews after their purchase in the past. I think it has deployed to Qatar at no less than 3 times since it was reformed in 2018.
Piece also adds that these aircraft will be returning from Qatar after joining the Qatari/European joint exercise "Ferocious Falcon V", which Turkey also joined. But this exercise was in 2023, not 2024. Hence my thinking these aircraft were not just there for the exercise but deployed there temporarily as part of No. 12 squadron.
2 aircraft are FGR4s per Özbek. While complicated, a FGR.Mk4 is basically a single seater Block 5 EF2000 built under Tranche 1 updated with multi-role capabilities for ground strike and recce roles unlike earlier blocks.
FGR4s are the most capable of the RAF Tranche 1s but they are also to be retired in the following few years.
Per the piece, 2 aircraft will directly come to Mürted base, to home of TAI and not Eskişehir and Konya, which are the more popular airbases for joint exercises.
I think either we might see an update on the previously dispelled claim of HvKK buying ex-RAF Typhoons, or this might be the first of many visits to start a joint RAF/TurAF squadron to train Turkish pilots and crews like how RAF did with Qataris and how we recently did with Qataris in Qatar. Or maybe even both...
Thought it was interesting.
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