Charlie Parker

Reporter covering defence for @TheTimes | DMs open | Tips 👉 [email protected]

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

Exclusive: An RAF jet carrying the defence secretary was hit by an electronic warfare attack after flying near the Russian border

John Healey was travelling home from southeast Estonia when the satellite signal on his government aircraft was knocked out

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

A defence source confirmed the Russian frigate fired its main gun, a 100mm automated naval cannon designed to engage surface vessels, aerial threats and shore-based targets. The turret shoots 50 rounds per minute at ranges exceeding ten nautical miles
https://t.co/RDrndvNK7k

[Deborah Haynes @haynesdeborah]

🚨This is what the new Chancellor said three weeks ago about the number 1 priority for the next spending review - which he now has rather a lot more influence over: a target date to lift defence spending to 3% of GDP and a “clear, credible” plan to boost it even further to 3.5% by 2035. This means tens of billions of pounds in additional funding for the armed forces and a fundamental, Cold War-level reprioritisation of defence over peacetime spending demands

[Larisa Brown @larisamlbrown]

Dan Jarvis booted out last night and replaced with Wes Streeting as defence secretary. He had only been in the role for a few weeks yet had met many of his counterparts having attended NATO summit and Ukraine defence contact group. Big blow for Jarvis, a well respected former paratrooper, and his team.

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

"It is right that we rebuild our hard power for a new era that is very different to the one in which much of our current military equipment was first designed."

"Decisions about defence and security have rarely mattered more for families across Britain."

[Andy Burnham @andyburnham]

Increasing our national security, in every sense, will be my first priority if I become Prime Minister.

This is why 👇🏻

https://t.co/uJNmGA9rMp

[George Greenwood @GeorgeGreenwood]

Reform UK’s biggest donor owns a company contracted to supply fuel to aircraft from refineries that make extensive use of Russian oil, The Times can reveal.

https://t.co/V3dPLDKWt9

[Larisa Brown @larisamlbrown]

BREAKING: As the defence investment plan is published, here we take you through the key points: https://t.co/MFn6lPpJQh

[Tom Cotterill @TomCotterillX]

This is a cracking article on the potted history of Britain’s Chinook helicopters by @charliehparker. Visuals are cool, too. It’s well worth a read - and was months in the making! https://t.co/v7idzraxf5

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

He warned: “In the run up to and during the Second World War, the UK’s spending on defence went from 2.9 per cent in 1936, to 9 per cent in 1939, to 52 per cent of GDP in 1945.”

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

New: Investing in defence is far cheaper than fighting a war with Russia, the head of Britain’s armed forces has warned as the government prepares to unveil its beleaguered military spending plan

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

Knighton said: “Our job in the armed forces should be to avoid war. Because in every way we might look at it, war is costly. So our focus must be on building the armed forces that stop one starting.”

[𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝙿𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜 𝚃𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 📰 @ukpapers]

▫ Starmer and Burnham at odds over defence plan

▫The outgoing prime minister will bring the spending proposals to Nato, despite his likely successor wanting it to be delayed
▫@Steven_Swinford @larisamlbrown @CharlieHParker
▫https://t.co/O4MQrMLH1S

@thetimes #frontpagestoday #UK 🇬🇧

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

The Grigoravich was escorting Forwarder as it became the first shadow fleet vessel to sail through the Channel since Royal Marines stormed the tanker Smyrtos in raid on Sunday

Both ships were shadowed by HMS Tyne, a Royal Navy patrol vessel, which was broadcasting its position

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

EXCL: The Russian warship that fired warning shots at a yacht in the Channel has escorted a sanctioned shadow fleet vessel through the waterway

We spotted Admiral Girgoravich protecting the first oil tanker to transit the Strait of Dover since UK forces raided a similar ship

[Charlie Parker @charliehparker]

On Tuesday, the same frigate sparked a national uproar by firing warning shots at a British couple, Alan and Jane Kelvey, who were sailing their yacht across the Channel

Moscow claimed its sailors opened fire to avoid a collision, but the couple say they were at a safe distance