Eurofighter Typhoon
As of April 2013 UAE National Security Adviser Sheikh Hazza’ Bin Zayed Al Nahyan was said to be preparing to begin work on a deal for the Eurofighter Typhoon with the F-16 procurement program having reached its final phase by getting US approval for 26 more F-16 Block 60 Desert Falcon. UAE President Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al-Nahyan is said to have held a meeting with his brother Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces General Sheikh Mohammad on his talks with British PM David Cameron on the Eurofighter deal during his 01 May 2013 visit to London. Behind this trip was a hotly fought deal for at least 60 BAE Systems-backed Eurofighter Typhoon jets worth £3 billion. As of May 16, 2013 Emir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah was said to be still committed to his talks with British PM David Cameron on a deal for the Eurofighter Typhoon.
UK prime minister David Cameron met in December 2013 with Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, crown prince of Abu Dhabi, in an attempt to persuade the UAE to buy 60 Typhoons in a deal valued at more than £6bn. The UAE’s decision not to proceed with the Typhoon order was a massive blow not just for British jobs but also for our prestige in a region where the UK has historically punched above its weight. Failure to secure the BAE deal suggests that historic relationship is now weakening.
The British media’s coverage of the suspension of the UAE’s deal to buy Typhoon fighter planes attracted resentful, spiteful responses from Britain. The Daily Telegraph reported under the title “Britain’s ambitions in the Gulf suffer blow as UAE rejects Typhoon deal”. The report, written by David Blair, the paper’s chief foreign correspondent, described “David Cameron’s ambition to revive Britain’s ties with the Gulf, involving 230 ministerial visits to the region since 2010” and how these were “in disarray after the UAE decided against a multi-billion pound deal to buy Typhoon fighters”.
In an interview with the publication Arabian Aerospace at the Bahrain International Airshow in January 2014, British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said one of the most difficult issues involved taking UAE Mirage 2000s in part exchange for the Typhoons. “Never say never, but at this point the negotiation is closed,” he said.
In January 2014 BAE Chief Executive Ian King dashed hopes the company might return to the negotiating table with the United Arab Emirates over the sale of Typhoon jets. “It’s done, we have no plans to revive it,” he told reporters.
The planes were supposed to replace the country’s ageing Mirage jets. In March 2014 BAE Systems had entered a new bid for the Typhoon in its ongoing efforts to supply the UAE Air Force with the latest fighter jets. By February 2015 the Eurofighter consortium was keen to reopen talks with the UAE in a new bid to sell its Typhoon fighter jets. More than a year ago a deal for up to 60 of its aircraft fell through.
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