By Bosphorus News Defense Desk
Turkish Air Force pilots are due to begin Eurofighter Typhoon flight training in the United Kingdom on Sept. 7, putting the British side of Türkiye's fighter program on its clearest timetable yet. The 12 Qatari aircraft intended to bridge the gap before new-build Typhoons arrive still have no announced delivery date.
Türkiye's Ministry of National Defence said on Sept. 3 that terminology training began in August and pilots who completed it would move to flying on Sept. 7. The flight course will last eight months, followed by three months of instructor pilot training, with further groups to be sent to Britain in stages.
That adds detail to the ministry's July 23 briefing, when it said Turkish flying personnel would travel to the UK during August and that aircrew and maintenance personnel would continue rotating through British training over successive years.
Both briefings placed the training under the procurement agreement signed with the British government. Neither gave an update on the planned acquisitions from Qatar and Oman.
What Ankara Signed
Türkiye signed a contract with the United Kingdom in October 2025 for 20 new-build Eurofighter Typhoons, mission equipment and munitions. The Ministry of National Defence put the project value at approximately £5.4 billion.
BAE Systems later secured a contract worth about £2.5 billion covering training, simulators, spares, electronic warfare capabilities and technical support. As Bosphorus News reported when the support agreement was signed in March, the Royal Air Force is also to train 10 Turkish instructor pilots and nearly 100 maintenance trainers, giving Türkiye the personnel needed to run much of the conversion and support system itself.
Manufacturing of the Turkish aircraft has begun in the UK and across the Eurofighter partner network. BAE Systems says the first new aircraft will be delivered in 2030, with final assembly at Warton in Lancashire.
Defense Minister Yaşar Güler gave a more detailed sequence in December: six aircraft in 2030, eight in 2031 and six in 2032.
The Gulf aircraft were supposed to arrive earlier.
Güler said after the October signing that Türkiye planned to acquire 12 Typhoons from Qatar and another 12 from Oman, taking the planned fleet to 44 aircraft. He said the Qatari jets could begin arriving in early 2026.
By December, he was describing the Qatari aircraft as low-hour jets available with their associated munitions and equipment. The Omani aircraft would require upgrades including active electronically scanned array radar, Meteor missile capability and updated avionics, with modernization of the 12-aircraft batch expected to be completed in 2028.
Qatar Was Meant to Move First
The Qatari transfer was intended to put Eurofighters into Turkish service before the first British-built aircraft arrived.
In January, Türkiye's Air Force commander travelled to Doha for a trilateral meeting with his Qatari and British counterparts focused on the Eurofighter procurement. Reports after those talks said the first Qatari aircraft could reach Türkiye by the end of February, while Turkish crews were already preparing for the type.
The ministry itself did not publish a February delivery schedule. The month passed without an announced transfer.
The file remained active through the spring. During Güler's visit to Doha on April 13 and 14, the Ministry of National Defence said the two sides had reviewed "the latest situation" regarding the Eurofighters Türkiye planned to acquire from Qatar. No revised timetable followed.
In May, Güler said the Qatari and Omani aircraft were still intended to cover Türkiye's requirements until the new-build Typhoons entered service and that regional developments had not adversely affected either process. He said the Qatari aircraft were expected after the contractual process was completed, again without giving a delivery date.
After that, official references became scarce.
The July 23 ministry briefing dealt directly with Eurofighter training in Britain but said nothing about the Qatari or Omani aircraft. The Sept. 3 briefing went further, fixing the start and duration of flight and instructor training, again without mentioning either Gulf acquisition.
Aviation Week reported on Sept. 3 that Türkiye was still seeking second-hand aircraft from Qatar and Oman but described the status of those purchases as uncertain following the regional war and Iranian strikes on the two Gulf states.
No Qatari or Omani Eurofighter has been announced as entering Turkish service.
That also clears up a separate claim that circulated after the October 2025 agreement. Three Eurofighters that flew to Mürted Air Base during then-British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit were Royal Air Force aircraft accompanying the British delegation. Their presence was not a transfer, and the Ministry of National Defence has announced no Eurofighter as entering the Turkish Air Force inventory.
The Missing Bridge to 2030
The British and Gulf purchases were meant to answer different timing problems.
Türkiye's combat fleet remains centered on the F-16, alongside a much smaller and ageing F-4E 2020 force. It was removed from the F-35 program in 2019 after acquiring Russia's S-400 air defense system, while KAAN remains on a separate development and production path.
The 20 British-built Typhoons provide the contracted long-term fleet. The Qatari aircraft were supposed to provide what the 2030 delivery schedule cannot: an earlier operational Eurofighter capability.
Training can now move ahead without them. Turkish pilots will start flying in Britain on Sept. 7, instructor qualification will follow, and BAE Systems has begun building the support system for the new fleet. The more that part of the program acquires firm dates, the absence of a current Gulf delivery timetable becomes harder to miss.
Across the Aegean, Greece is also moving through a major modernization cycle, with Rafales and upgraded F-16 Vipers already reshaping its fleet and its first F-35 delivery expected in the United States in 2028. Its Aug. 31 air and missile defense agreement with Israel added another layer to that timetable.
Türkiye's UK program remains on its announced schedule. Twenty new-build Typhoons are under production, the support contract is in force and Turkish pilots are about to begin the flying phase.
Güler was still describing the Qatari and Omani aircraft in May as the bridge to that new-build fleet. Four months later, Türkiye has a date for training but no public date for the aircraft intended to arrive first.
Sources: Türkiye's Ministry of National Defence, BAE Systems, Aviation Week, Anadolu Agency, Reuters, Hürriyet Daily News, Bosphorus News review and reporting.