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.

Saab unveils new Russian tank-killer round

Saab launched HEAT 758, a tandem-charge Carl-Gustaf round to defeat ERA and heavy armour (up to 700mm) Firebolt integration with…
Norway’s Leopard 2A8 tanks highlight European network

Norway has received its first two Leopard 2A8 tanks; 54 will be bought in total 17 built by KNDS, with…
Taiwan defence budget to near 10% growth over next five years

Budget boost: $32.4bn in 2026; projected $46.9bn by 2031; defence spend rises from ~4% of GDP to >5% China-focused posture: Maintains conscription…
Ukraine wants 15,000 recruits to help create drone ‘kill zone’

Ukraine seeks 15,000 recruits for drone-focussed units to build a 10–15 km “kill zone” along the front. The Drone Line project is now part of the Unmanned…
Europe driving IFV and tank demand in global armour market

Market grows 5.2% CAGR (2026–2036): $39.6bn → $65.5bn (total $552.2bn) Europe leads (51.8%); IFVs (33.7%) and MBTs (26.8%) dominate; MBTs fastest at 6.2% CAGR Demand driven by Ukraine-war recapitalisation and fleet…

Adolescent British Army Ajax to restart at an infant ‘crawl’

Ajax trials to restart slowly with tightly controlled “crawl-walk-run” testing Problems blamed on multiple issues, not one root cause MoD…
Country analysis: Qatar defence market

Qatar is a major GCC defence buyer; budget is ~$17bn (2026) and forecast ~$20.8bn by 2031 Security concerns—especially Iran—and defence…
Pressure points: Aristeia on its new battlefield tourniquet

Battlefield medicine is a fast-evolving sector, as militaries seek to find ways to reduce the lethality of combat injuries, amid…
Raven 5: the answer to the UK’s mobile air defence needs?

UK had earlier repurposed surplus ASRAAM missiles into the Raven truck-mounted GBAD for Ukraine Original Raven: Supacat HMT 600 with…
Survey: US industry can’t meet global munitions demand

Poll: 65% say the US defence industry can’t meet surging demand; 14% say it can; 20% are unsure Ukraine war…