On the evening of 13th October the National Press Club in Washington D. C. was packed with defence journalists and industry communicators for the 2024 Defence Media Awards. The winners and finalists are listed below, please scroll down the page.  

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The Winners and Finalists are announced - to see the award categories and finalists please scroll down the page.

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The 2024 Defence Media Awards


The Winners and Finalists for the 2024 Defence Media Awards are announced

The winners and finalists are as follows -

 

Best New Journalist – sponsored by NAMMO

For journalists under 35 or with no more than 5 years’ experience in defence journalism

Ryan Finnerty

Justin Katz

Irene Loewenson

Josh Luckenbaugh

Noah Robertson

Winner - Brandi Vincent 


The Best Rotorcraft submission

Declan Daly - The Alligator at War – Antares Magazine

Peter Felstead - The UK NMH programme: a marathon as opposed to a sprint – European Security & Defence

Winner - Jen Judson - US Army faces uphill battle to fix aviation mishap crisis – Defense News

Paul Foo Kennard - Tiger and NH-90 Continue to Struggle… - Antares Magazine

David Oliver – Russia’s desperate search for Helicopter Engines – Armada International

Ashley Roque - Army cancels FARA helicopter program, makes other cuts in major aviation shakeup – Breaking Defense
 

The Best Defence Data Analytics submission– sponsored by SAIC

Sydney Freedberg - How to tame your chatbot: secure containers, data diets, & more – Breaking Defense

Laura Heckmann - Crystal Ball: Pentagon Harnessing Data for Predictive Logistics Planning – National Defense Magazine

Sam Hart - Insight: Why the CV90 infantry fighting vehicle is making a clean sweep of Nordic markets – Shephard Media

Giovanni Rasio - Insight: How rising tensions have fuelled the Type 26 frigate's development – Shephard Media

Maxim Starchak - Why dozens of Russian enterprises are bankrupt, or heading that way – Defense News

Winner - Matty Todhunter - Insight: Is the Bayraktar TB2 UAV living up to expectations? – Shephard Media 


The Best Naval Systems Submission - sponsored by General Dynamics

Massimo Annati - Extra-Large Size Underwater Unmanned Vehicles (XLUUV) - New Vehicles and Roles – Military Technology

Chris Cavas & Chris Servello - CavasShips Podcast Episode 149: Keeping an eye on the dragon.

Winner - Megan Eckstein - The US Navy is spending billions to stabilize vendors. Will it work? – Defense News

Alix Valenti – Evolutionary Spaces – Future Proofing Submarine Design – Armada International

Brandi Vincent and Mark Pomerleau - Starlink terminals give Navy ‘game-changing’ flexibility – DefenseScoop

Lee Willet - Covert Demonstration: USVs Change the Stealth Game at Sea – European Security & Defence
 

The Best Training, Simulation and Readiness Submission – sponsored by CAE

Sean Carberry - Intelligent Training: AI Still in Experimentation Phase for Training, Simulations – National Defense Magazine

Gerrard Cowan - Electronic education: The evolution of military cyberspace training – Jane’s International Defence Review

Winners - Stephen Losey and Megan Eckstein - One defense strategy, two drastically different budgets – Defense News

Brian Everstine - Modernizing Military Flight Testing – Aviation Week & Space Technology

Ashley Roque - Army’s pricey IVAS goggles meet a training obstacle: Doors – Breaking Defense

Davis Winkie - Army struggles to standardize innovation without stifling it – Army Times 


The Best Breaking News Submission - sponsored by BAE Systems

Brian Everstine - Kendall: USAF Needs to Reevaluate Air Dominance, NGAD In Question – Aviation Week & Space Technology

Winner - Peter Felstead - Eurosatory 2024: Granta Autonomy personally testing its mini-UAVs over Ukraine’s front lines - European Security & Defence

John Ismay - Pentagon Opens Ammunition Factory to Keep Arms Flowing to Ukraine – New York Times

Jen Judson -US Army spent billions on a new helicopter that now will never fly - Defense News

Michael Marrow & Valerie Insinna - Coverage of the CCA award – Breaking Defense

Stephen Losey - US Air Force may remove 105mm cannon from AC-130 gunship – Defense News 


The Best Multimedia Military Submission - sponsored by McKinsey & Company

Breaking Defense Team – Coverage of AUSA 2023

Alex Hollings - SKYBORG: How the Air Force really built AI-PILOTED FIGHTER JETS – Sandboxx News

Stephen Losey - The new B-52: How the Air Force is prepping to fly century-old bombers

Shephard Media - Breaking Barriers - The Tech Race for Multi-Domain Operations

Winner - Mallory Shelbourne - Another Summer in the South China Sea: A Guided Tour of the World’s Most Contested Waters - USNI News

Brandi Vincent - Surveys and stickers: A day on the water with the Navy’s MK-18 drones - DefenseScoop

Laura Winter - Why States, National Guard Association Say “No!” To Defense Department Space Units Plan – The Downlink 


The Best Land Systems Submission - sponsored by Northrop Grumman

The Defense & Aerospace Report - An In-Depth Conversation with Doug Bush

Christopher F Foss – UK no longer able to manufacture large-calibre gun barrels, BAE Systems admits – Shephard Media

Winners - National Defense Magazine Staff - Army Modernization Report Card: A Snapshot of 24 Programs the Army Promised to Expedite

Jen Judson - The US Army arsenal from 1813 that’s building weapons for Ukraine – Defense News

Ashley Roque - Inside the US Army’s race to apply Ukraine lessons to future Abrams, Bradley replacement – Breaking Defense

Hope Seck - As Tactical EV Plans Take Shape, Army Charges Ahead; Marines Stay Cautious – National Defense

 

The Best Defence Electronics Submission - sponsored by W. L. Gore

Winner - Mark Cazalet - Silent Struggle: Accounts from the Frontlines of Ukraine’s Electronic War – European Security & Defence

Laura Heckmann - Trustworthy Tech: Air Force Research Lab Looking at Uncertainties with Electronics – National Defense Magazine

Reuben F. Johnson - Why Today's Russian Airborne EW Falls Short – Journal of Electromagnetic Dominance

Norbert Neumann - US Air Force F-15 EW kit completes operational testing – Shephard Media

Kollen Post - Inside Ukraine, startups try to edge Russia in the electronic warfare race – Breaking Defense 

Thomas Withington - How Russia is covertly acquiring Western components for loitering munitions – Shephard Media
 

The Best Military MRO Submission – sponsored by Northrop Grumman

Marco Barone - The Circle of (Service) Life - Definitory patterns of predictive maintenance for defence application – Military Technology

Gerrard Cowan - Defence sector embraces digital design tools – Jane’s International Defence Review

Megan Eckstein - Seeking to make F-35s ready for war, maintainers think outside the box – Defense News

Hope Hodge Seck - Electric Vehicles: As Tactical EV Plans Take Shape, Army Charges Ahead; Marines Stay Cautious – National Defense Magazine

Winner - Justin Katz - Uncharted waters: Navy navigating first-ever dismantling of nuclear-powered carrier – Breaking Defense

Richard Scott - Keep on Keeping on: Dutch LCF Modernisation – European Security & Defence 


The Best National Security Space Submission - sponsored by Intelsat

Courtney Albon - Atlas, other ‘troubled’ Space Force programs to miss 2023 deliveries – C4ISRNET

Winner - Mikayla Easley - Space Force prodded to provide clear demand signal for on-orbit mobility, servicing capabilities – DefenseScoop

Brian Everstine - The U.S. Space Force's Urgent Push for Orbital Refueling – Aviation Week & Space Technology

Tim Fish - Increasing coverage: overcoming Arctic challenges – European Security & Defence

Theresa Hitchens - Space Force, IC’s battle over commercial ISR reignites as appropriators add fuel – Breaking Defense

Laura Winter - Why States, National Guard Association Say “No!” To Defense Department Space Units Plan – The Downlink
   

The Best Un-Manned Systems Submission – sponsored by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems

 Marco Barone - The Evolution of UAS - Current Trends and Future Perspectives – Military Technology

Sydney Freedberg - The revolution that wasn’t: How AI drones have fizzled in Ukraine (so far) – Breaking Defense

Winner - Jon Harper - Don’t expect ‘straight-line’ capability advancements for CCA drones, Air Force acquisition chief says - DefenseScoop

Richard Scott - Taking the strain: uncrewed aviation lifts off for resupply at sea – Jane’s International Defence Review

Alix Valenti - The future of Mine countermeasures is Multi Dimensional – Armada International

Brandi Vincent - Erosion catastrophe in Ecuador sparks ‘rare’ NGA drone mission - DefenseScoop


The Best Military Aviation Submission - sponsored by Honeywell

 Marco Barone - The Future of the Luftwaffe -Modernizing for the Challenges Ahead - Military Technology

Dick Downs - The Hogs Have Finally Been Let Out - Antares Magazine

Winners - J.J. Gertler and Vago Muradian – The Air Power Podcast - The Chief's New World - Defense & Aerospace Report Air Power Podcast

Reuben F. Johnson - French Mirage 2000 Fighters Are Headed To Ukraine. Here's How Kyiv Will Use Them - Breaking Defense

Norbert Neumann - Sky high diplomacy: Saudi Arabia's fighter jet puzzle entangles Eurofighter, Rafale and global alliances - Shephard Media

Richard Scott - Tomorrow’s TACAMO - Janes International Defence Review


The Best Technology Submission – sponsored by L3Harris

Courtney Albon - Pentagon’s commercial tech arm to ramp up role in military innovation – C4ISRNET

Mark Cazalet - Awaiting the lithium dawn – European Security & Defence

Doug Richardson - Countering the hypersonic threat – European Security & Defence

Richard Scott - Royal Navy invests in EW to gain advantage in the spectrum – Jane’s Navy International

Brandi Vincent - ‘Have the kids come home?’: How open-source technologies are reshaping conflict and humanitarian operations - DefenseScoop

Winner - Thomas Withington - Breaking Burdock – Armada International 


The Best Cyber Security Submission - sponsored by The Sierra Nevada Corporation

 Gerrard Cowan –Digital domain: Militaries seek to enhance cyberspace situational awareness – Jane’s International Defence Review

Andrea Neves - Exercício Cyber Coalition 2023. NATO prepara-se para enfrentar ameaças do ciberespaço – Antena 1 Portugal

Mark Pomerleau - Holistic examination of the next iteration of US Cyber Command underway - DefenseScoop

Lee Willet _ Cyber Blindness – European Security & Defence

Winner - Laura Winter – Four-part podcast series Cyber attacks on Ukraine and future cyberattacks on space systems – The Downlink

Thomas Withington – Bytes for the Fight – European Security & Defence


The Best Mobile Combat Systems Submission - sponsored by Elbit Systems of America

Sam Cranny-Evans - Protected mobility in a post-GWOT world - European Security & Defence

Tim Fish - Generating Mass Fires - It’s Logistics Stupid! – Military Technology

Jon Harper - Army rechristens drone-killing maneuver air defense system, eyes next increments - DefenseScoop

Irene Loewenson - 59 Marines are now certified to use amphibious combat vehicles in surf – Marine Corps Times

Allyson Park - Rolling Recon: Marine Coros Seeking Intel on Reconnaissance Vehicle – National Defense Magazine

Winner - Ashley Roque - Taking aim: Army leaders ponder mix of precision munitions vs conventional – Breaking Defense 


Best Military Integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) submission – sponsored by Anduril

Mikayla Easley - Inside the AI-enabled pilot that flew Air Force Secretary Kendall through a dogfight - DefenseScoop

Winner - Sydney Freedberg - Empowered edge versus the centralization trap: Who will wield AI better, the US or China? – Breaking Defense

Dan Kaszeta - Doomsday or business as usual? Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and CBRN threats – European Security & Defence

Flavia Camargos Pereira - How generative AI can improve military training – Shephard Media

Neil Thompson - China turns to US-made AI chips to boost hypersonic weapon performance – Shephard Media

Brandi Vincent - Why Centcom wants ‘self-service’ computer vision for warfighters - DefenseScoop
 
 

The John Morrocco Award for Best In-depth Defence Reporting - sponsored by Boeing

Winner - Sean Carberry - Networked Warfare: Army's Project Convergence Goes on the Offensive - National Defense Magazine

Mark Cazalet - The Most Misunderstood Weapon in the World: Mythbusting HEAT Warheads and their countermeasures - European Security & Defence

Tomas Chlebecek - Black Sea Navies in Wartime - Operations in Confined Waters - Military Technology

Reuben F. Johnson - After Historic Shootdown Why Russia Will Struggle to Replace its A-50U AEW&C Plane - Breaking Defense

Irene Loewenson - The Corps has a plan to stop Marines from leaving. Is it working? - Marine Corps Times

Meredith Roaten - Arctic formations taking shape in US Army - Janes Defence Weekly

Judges Commendation - Davis Winkie - Broken Track - Army Times

Laura Winter - Four-part podcast series on current and future cyberattacks - The Downlink 


The Outstanding Achievement Award - sponsored by amentum

For journalists who have made significant contributions to Defence Journalism.

The Winners are J.J. Green and Vago Muradian


The 2024 Defence Media Awards were presented at the National Press Club on the evening of 13th October.



The 2025 Defence Media Dinner will take place on 12th October - Washington D.C.

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