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Bloomberg
Qatar is set to buy 24 Eurofighter Typhoon jets after Defense Minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah signed a statement of intent with UK counterpart Michael Fallon, providing the Persian Gulf state with outside military support after it became a regional outcast.
The deal, reached on Sunday in the Qatari capital of Doha, marks the first major defense contract between the two countries and will form “the basis for even closer defense cooperation,†and the chance to “enhance security within the region across all Gulf allies,†Fallon said in a government statement.
London-based BAE Systems Plc, a Eurofighter partner which is seeking enough orders to generate profit from the model, welcomed the agreement.
The Saudi military is the biggest export customer outside the Eurofighter partners countries for the Typhoon. BAE is delivering the final planes of a
72-jet order and seeking a follow-up deal.
BAE rose 2.9 percent to 613 pence as of 8:15 am in London. The stock has gained 3.7 percent this year, valuing the manufacturer at $26.5 billion.
Besides BAE, the Eurofighter consortium includes Rome-based Leonardo SpA, and the German and Spanish divisions of Toulouse and Airbus SE.