Qatar to Purchase 24 Typhoon Fighters from UK

London has always been interested in forging strategic security and trade ties with Qatar which seems to reciprocate: the country has agreed to purchase Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from the UK.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Qatari State Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah and UK's Secretary of State of Defense Michael Fallon have signed a preliminary agreement that marks Doha's intention to buy 24 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets from London, UK Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"After a number of years of negotiations between our two countries. I am delighted to have been able to sign today with Qatar’s Defence Minister, this Statement of Intent on the purchase of 24 Typhoon aircraft by Qatar," Fallon said, as quoted in the statement.

The UK defense minister stressed that Doha was a strategic partner of London, and the purchase of the fighters would improve security of the region and expand cooperation between the countries.

According to the statement, the United Kingdom and Qatar are close in their positions on fighting extremism, as well as promoting peace and stability in the Persian Gulf region.

Eurofighter Typhoon is a twin-engine fighter jet, produced by a consortium of Italy's Leonardo, France's Airbus and UK's BAE Systems. To date, the combat aircraft have been put into service by the air forces of the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, and Saudi Arabia, with Oman and Kuwait acting as export customers of the fighters.