BAE Gets $6.7 Billion Typhoon Fighter Jet Order From Qatar

(Bloomberg) -- BAE Systems Plc won an order from Qatar for 24 Eurofighter Typhoon combat jets valued at 5 billion pounds ($6.7 billion) as the isolated Persian Gulf state beefs up air defenses.

Delivery of the aircraft to the Qatar Emiri Air Force will start in late 2022, according to a statement Monday from the London-based manufacturer. The contract is subject to financing conditions and first payment coming no later than the middle of next year. The deal is the biggest export contract for the Typhoon in a decade, U.K. Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said in a separate statement.

The order comes at a crucial time for the aerospace manufacturer, which is planning to eliminate more than 2,000 jobs over three years as it struggles to secure contracts for warplanes and slims down its naval ships and cyber-security businesses. The Typhoon is the cornerstone of a military-aircraft business that employs about 12,500 people at BAE. Production of the jets has already slowed, and the Qatar order will take time to ramp up.

BAE rose 1 percent to 562.5 pence as of 8:52 a.m. in London. The stock has lost 5 percent this year, valuing the manufacturer at 17.9 billion pounds.

Qatar said last week that it plans to buy another dozen Rafale jets from Dassault Aviation SA on top of 24 already ordered, and it has agreed to purchase as many as 36 Boeing Co. F-15s. The sheikhdom’s links to Iran have caused a split with fellow members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain imposing diplomatic and economic sanctions, including airspace restrictions, in early June.

The BAE order includes a “clear intention” to proceed with purchase of BAE’s Hawk trainer aircraft, Williamson said. The project will support thousands of U.K. jobs, especially at the company’s site at Warton in Lancashire, he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tara Patel in Paris at tpatel2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net, Tom Lavell, Andrew Noël

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