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.

FY26 NDAA: facts, figures, and the reasons why

FY26 NDAA passes US House, moving closer to Senate vote and Trump signature Record $900.6bn defence budget prioritises operations, personnel,…
Time-honoured Lancaster axed as gaunt Royal Navy fades into history

The scandals of the decommissioning of the Royal Navy’s forward-deployed Type 23 frigate, HMS Lancaster, are multiple, with the vessel…
What can we learn from the collapse of the Constellation frigate?

The US Secretary of the Navy has cancelled the new Constellation-class guided missile programme Just two of the planned 20…
Budget delivers little as UK Defence Investment Plan wait goes on

The UK’s Autumn Budget, leaked to the media in contravention of parliamentary policy, outlined a series of tax and spend…
Is the UK’s F-35 fleet irrevocably broken?

On the eve of a premature declaration by the UK that its F-35 stealth fighter fleet has reached full operating…

Analysis: what we know about the Sichuan, China’s drone carrier hybrid

China’s new Type 076 amphibious assault ships are comparable in scale to modern US designs The lead ship in class,…
Amid a “new era” of threat, is the UK a weak link in Nato?

The UK is increasingly thought of as a non-peer ally as its armed forces are hollowed out by successive governments…
NAO: UK MoD did not have “appropriate authorisation” for key defence costs

The UK’s National Audit Office has examined Ministry of Defence spending into key nuclear defence costs and the Afghan resettlement…
Is South Korea going to get a Virginia-class nuclear submarine?

Trump said the US will allow South Korea to build nuclear-powered attack submarines, potentially boosting US shipbuilding South Korea could…
How is China able to produce so many submarines?

“Belief”, “appetite”, and “ambition”. These are words that leading members of the UK’s subsurface defence ecosystem used to explain how…