Qatar in surprise order for Typhoon

Defence analysts were surprised by the move. UBS analyst Celine Fornaro was quoted by Bloomberg as having wrotten to clients saying the market wasn’t expecting a Qatar order for Eurofighter and “It is not clear to us what Saudi Arabia’s stance could be in the context of this order.”
Saudi Arabia is a major customer for Typhoon and has led the diplomatic and economic sanctions, including airspace restrictions against Qatar which has been joined by the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt. The four nations have accused Qatar or supporting terrorism and grown links with Iran.
Qatar has now orders with three NATO partners. It has ordered 24 Rafales from Dassault of France; 36 Boeing F-15s from the USA and now the 24 Typhoons from Uk.
The latest contract could be worth as much as $10bn and marks the UK’s first major defence contract with Qatar.
The agreement was signed by Minister of State for Defence Affairs Khalid bin Mohammed Al Attiyah and his British counterpart Michael Fallon, QNA added.
"This will be the first major defence contract with Qatar, one of the UK's strategic partners," Britain's Ministry of Defence said in a statement, adding that talks over a deal had taken several years.
"We also hope that this will help enhance security within the region across all Gulf allies."
Kuwait (28) and Oman (12) are also Typhoon customers.