Turkish pilots start Eurofighter training with RAF ahead of 2030 deliveries

Two Turkish Air Force combat pilots have arrived in the United Kingdom and begun conversion training on the Eurofighter Typhoon with the Royal Air Force, according to an RAF statement. They will train with 29 Squadron, the UK's Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit, which is based at RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire.

The trainees are the first from Turkey to fly the type. Group Captain Batu, program director for the Türkiye Program Management Office, said the initial weeks would cover Typhoon systems and the procedures used in UK military airspace before the pilots fly their first sortie. He said the two were proud to have been selected as their country's first Typhoon pilots.

Conversion training is expected to take up to nine months, with a further three months of follow-on instructor training. After graduating, the pilots will stay with 29 Squadron as instructors until Turkey takes delivery of its first new Eurofighter Typhoons from BAE Systems in 2030.

Turkey signed a deal in October 2025 worth up to £8 billion, or about $10.6 billion, covering 20 Typhoon fighters plus the weapons, support and training needed to operate them. According to the RAF, the agreement helped sustain a UK-wide workforce of 20,000 people, with production lines in Edinburgh, Warton, Salmesbury and Bristol. The RAF said the Turkish agreement would strengthen Turkey's combat air capabilities, bolster NATO's presence in a key operational region and enhance the strategic partnership between the two air forces.