Today’s defence related news includes reports that the Defence Secretary and his Qatari counterpart, Khalid bin Mohammed al Attiyah, signed a Statement of Intent concerning Qatar’s proposed purchase of 24 Typhoon aircraft, continued coverage on Operation Ruman in the Carbbean following Hurricane Irma, and the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall’s attendance at the Battle of Britain Service.
QATAR TO PURCHASE 24 TYPHOONS
The Telegraph, The Times, Financial Times, and Al Jazeera reported on the signed statement of intent to purchase 24 Typhoon aircraft by Qatar. The articles describe this agreement as the biggest export deal for the project in a decade, leading to Britain’s first major Defence contract with the Gulf state. The papers write about the significance of the deal for BAE Systems, reporting that it will ‘safeguard’ the Typhoon project at Warton past 2019 and that 4,000 staff are involved in the assembly of the jets. There is also speculation on the value of the deal being up to £1.9 billion.
Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said:
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.
This will be the first major defence contract with Qatar, one of the UK's strategic partners. This is an important moment in our defence relationship and the basis for even closer defence co-operation between our two countries. We also hope that this will help enhance security within the region across all Gulf allies and enhance Typhoon interoperability across the GCC.
The security of the GCC, of all Gulf countries, is critical to the UK’s own security.
HURRICANE IRMA / TROPICAL STORM MARIA
Reports of the UK military response to Hurricane Irma continues, with a shift towards the preparations for the approaching tropical storm, Maria, with coverage appearing in The Times, The Guardian, The Sun, The Telegraph, and last night on BBC News. Reports describe the scale of the government response, which includes over 1,000 troops and 60 tonnes of aid.
Latest Gov.uk: UK government response in numbers
BATTLE OF BRITAIN SERVICE
There has been widespread coverage of the anniversary and the service in print and online media, including by The Times, The Scotsman, The Daily Mirror, The Daily Express, The Herald, The Aberdeen Press & Journal, The Telegraph, and The Daily Star. It is reported that the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall attended, with features and quotes with survivors of the Battle of Britain who were also present at the service.
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