All articles by Richard Thomas

Richard Thomas

Richard is editor-in-chief for defence and transport at GlobalData. He has worked the UK defence beat since 2014, and previously the defence and diplomatic beats in Muscat, Oman, from 2008-2013.

UK leaks development of “Snapper” and “Wasp” naval drones for Ukraine

The UK appears to be helping to develop two uncrewed maritime vessels (UMV) for use by Ukrainian forces, which have…
Royal Marines test new L403A1 ‘KS-1’ battle rifle

UK Royal Marines have tested the new L403A1 ‘KS-1’ battle rifle during cold weather exercises in Norway, providing one of…
US Navy moves to secure nuclear weapons future

The US Navy has looked to secure its nuclear weapons delivery capability following a multi-million-dollar contract award to US defence…
Type 23 frigate HMS Sutherland “reaching the end” of four-year refit

The disclosure by the UK government that one of its Type 23 frigates, HMS Sutherland, will soon return to operations…
Renaming of HMS Agincourt to HMS Achilles pre-dates Labour government

The UK Royal Navy has changed the name of the seventh and final Astute-class nuclear powered attack submarine from HMS…

China’s new Type 054B frigate exposes US naval inertia

The commissioning of the first of a next generation of surface combatants for China's People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), the…
Amber warning for Royal Navy as it hits its nadir

The UK’s two major naval surface combatant programmes, the Type 26 and Type 31 frigates, have both been given an…
For sale: two UK amphibious assault ships, available ‘as is’

The UK government is looking to sell the recently axed Albion-class amphibious assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark in…
Could CVN 85 be named USS Donald J Trump?

Following the naming of the next two Gerald R Ford-class nuclear-powered aircraft carriers by the US Navy as the future…
RTX’s Raytheon awarded SM-6 Block IA production deal

Raytheon, an RTX business, has been awarded a $333m contract from the US Navy to produce Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) Block…