Qatar to raise billions for European Typhoon jets purchase

The island-nation agreed to purchase 24 Typhoon combat jets from British defence group BAE systems in December.

2 min read

11 July, 2018

British defence secretary and Qatari counterpart /arms deal

British defence secretary and his Qatari counterpart signing the Typhoon purchase agreement [Getty]

Qatar is raising a multi-billion dollar loan to purchase European Typhoon combat jets, according to a Reuters report.

The purchase, which tops $4 billion, will be backed by export credit agencies.

Qatar agreed to purchase 24 Typhoon combat jets from British defence group BAE systems in December last year for a total cost of $6.62 billion.

"The new Typhoons will advance Qatar's strategic efforts towards stability. The method and mechanism of payment has not been decided yet," a Qatari official said.

But the contract is subject to "financing conditions and receipt by the company of first payment, which are expected to be fulfilled no later than mid-2018".

The warplane is a joint project of BAE, France's Airbus and Italy's Leonardo.

In March, Saudi Arabia and BAE agreed to finalise talks on the purchase of 48 Typhoon aircraft, double Qatar's purchase.

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Earlier this month, Qatar's emir met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow about buying the S-400 air defence system, but no agreement was reached.

News that Qatar might purchase the S-400 missile system that would pose a threat to NATO aircraft alarmed its neighbour Saudi Arabia, which, along with Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt, launched a land, air and naval blockade on the gas-rich island-nation.

The quartet of Arab countries accuse Qatar of supporting terrorism and developing close ties with regional rival Iran, a charge Doha strongly denies.

Agencies contributed to this report.

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