Craig Langford
Trained as a mechanical engineer, Craig took an unconventional route into journalism, bringing with him a rare technical precision and analytical depth that continues to set his reporting apart.
Irish alumina factory accused of supplying Russia’s war
Aughinish Alumina, Europe's largest alumina refinery, has become the focus of mounting political pressure after an investigation linked material from the Irish plant to the supply chain feeding Russia's arms industry.
Kyiv puts Russia’s road to Crimea under fire
A month of what Ukraine calls "middle-strike" operations has brought Russia's main overland supply route to occupied Crimea and its logistics network across occupied Luhansk under sustained drone fire.
Forces recruitment turns a corner but cause unclear, MPs say
More people are now joining the armed forces than leaving for the first time in years but the Ministry of Defence does not know whether its own measures drove the improvement or whether it can be sustained.
Unrealistic expectations placed on Ajax crews says PAC
The PAC has criticised the Ministry of Defence for placing unrealistic demands on how soldiers operate Ajax and has demanded to know how much the long-troubled programme will ultimately cost.
Defence plan delay has damaged UK credibility, MPs warn
The Public Accounts Committee says years without a credible long-term investment plan have weakened the UK's deterrent and has demanded the Ministry of Defence explain how it is shielding suppliers from the harm caused by the delay.
Peer suggests UAE money could help fund defence plan
A former chief of the defence staff has suggested in the House of Lords that the wealth of Gulf allies such as the UAE might be tapped to help get the UK's delayed Defence Investment Plan over the line.
Support deal planned for Royal Navy mine disposal system
The Ministry of Defence intends to award a two-year, £12 million contract to keep the Royal Navy's Seafox mine disposal system in service, the underwater vehicle used by its Hunt and Sandown class vessels to find and destroy sea mines.
Heckler & Koch set to supply UK machine guns for a decade
The Ministry of Defence intends to award Heckler & Koch a ten-year contract worth around GBP 70 million to supply L7A2 general-purpose machine guns and associated equipment to the British armed forces.
Autonomous weapons an ‘Oppenheimer moment’, peer warns
A Conservative peer has told the House of Lords that autonomous weapons may represent a threshold as significant as the arrival of nuclear arms, warning that, unlike nuclear weapons, they are cheap, scalable and hard to contain.
UK had Gulf bases but no ships to use them, peer says
The UK had military bases across the Gulf but largely no vessels stationed in them when conflict with Iran erupted earlier this year, a peer has told the House of Lords.
