Signing an unusually priced deal between Türkiye and the United Kingdom for 44 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters worth a total of $10.7 billion does not mean Ankara can now calmly expect to receive the aircraft. Every fighter needs weapons, and that is exactly where problems may arise.
Even though the overall contract includes $1 billion for armament, this is clearly not a firm weapons contract. At the same time, the UK can, of all its air-to-air missiles, only sell Turkiye the short-range ASRAAM, with a launch range of about 25 km.
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For long-range armament, however, one must turn to MBDA, which is responsible for the Eurofighter's main air-to-air weapon the long-range Meteor missile.
It should be recalled that MBDA is a pan-European consortium; moreover, the conglomerates headquarters are in France, which is one of its member states. Therefore, approval from Paris is required for the sale or re-export of any armament.
Türkiye already has a very negative experience obtaining such green lights from European partners it spent three years negotiating with Germany to secure permission to buy the Eurofighter. For this reason, whether Turkish Eurofighters will be equipped with long-range weapons objectively depends on Paris.
Moreover, we must remember that the French decision will be made under pressure from both the UK and Türkiye, which will demand permission to supply Meteors, and from Greece, which has already strongly warned against selling these missiles to Türkiye.
At the same time, Paris has consistently supported Athens in disputes over maritime borders with Ankara, has competed with Türkiye in Syria, and has backed the Kurds. Personal relations between the presidents of France and Turkieye are also very strained, with public insults exchanged since 2019.
All this makes obtaining approval for Turkieye to purchase Meteor long-range air-to-air missiles a truly difficult task. Meanwhile, without them, the Turkish Air Force is immediately at a disadvantage, since Greek Rafales are armed with Meteors. The only option Turkiy can oppose Meteor with are older versions of the American AIM-120 missiles.
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