The four partner nations behind the Eurofighter Typhoon have signed a long awaited deal for the third batch of the fighter jets, but the UK ministry of defence cut short any celebrations by ruling out plans to buy its final quota of aircraft.

Officials meeting in Germany placed orders worth €9bn for 112 aircraft with the Eurofighter consortium, including BAE Systems and EADS, in return for commitments to cut the cost of supporting the platforms over their 30 year life span by up to 50 per cent. For the UK, that could mean savings of around £900m.