“A win for British workers,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in Ankara as the UK signed an agreement worth up to £8bn for 20 Typhoon jets with Türkiye on Monday 27 October. For Lancashire, it reads like a lifeline after months of stop‑start on the Typhoon line at BAE’s Warton site.

Downing Street is billing it as the biggest fighter jet export in a generation and the first new UK Typhoon order since 2017, with the first deliveries due in 2030. Officials say the programme supports about 20,000 jobs nationwide across manufacturing and support.

Closer to home, the Typhoon programme directly supports nearly 6,000 roles across BAE’s Warton and Samlesbury sites, with Rolls‑Royce in Bristol building EJ200 engine modules and leading maintenance and Leonardo in Edinburgh producing the radar. Ministers claim the deal “saves the Warton production line”; separate reporting estimates roughly 500 posts at Warton are directly secured by this order.

That matters because final assembly at Warton had effectively halted over the summer as orders ran out. Unite’s Sharon Graham warned that letting the line stall would see “skills begin to wither and die” and pressed for commitments to protect the UK’s ability to build combat aircraft end‑to‑end.

BAE says the Turkish order extends Typhoon production and preserves “crucial sovereign skills”. With 37% of each aircraft built in the UK and final assembly in Lancashire, the work will ripple through avionics, structures and testing teams across the North and beyond.

Ministers also point to security. Türkiye’s purchase bolsters NATO air power on the alliance’s south‑eastern flank and improves how UK and Turkish crews operate together on tasks such as air policing and quick‑reaction alerts.

The pathway to Monday’s signing ran through Berlin. Germany’s federal security council approved Eurofighter exports to Türkiye in July - essential for a consortium aircraft built by the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain. The deal follows July’s UK‑Germany Kensington Treaty, which explicitly promised a step‑up in joint defence exports.

It also lands amid a wider run of orders for British defence yards. On 31 August, Norway selected UK Type 26 frigates in a £10bn partnership the Ministry of Defence says will support around 4,000 jobs and more than 400 suppliers, including over 2,000 roles in Glasgow.

Not everyone is cheering. Rights groups have raised concerns over Turkey’s domestic politics, and reports from Ankara on Monday pointed to fresh legal action against opposition figures. UK officials say they will keep a frank dialogue on rights alongside security and trade.

Industrial relations at home will also shape how quickly the North feels the benefit. Unite has announced strike action at Warton and Samlesbury from 5 to 25 November in a pay dispute - a reminder that orders are only one part of keeping skilled teams on the tools.

What happens next is the careful ramp‑up. The first aircraft are due with the Turkish Air Force in 2030. Germany’s clearance covered up to 40 jets, while London’s agreement confirms an initial 20 with potential for more. For Lancashire suppliers, it’s a bridge to the next‑gen GCAP programme - and a reason to keep apprentices coming through.