2022 Laureate Award Winners: Defense

October 06, 2022

Continuing a 65-year tradition of honoring innovators, extraordinary achievements and exemplary leadership in the aerospace, defense and aviation industries, Aviation Week Network’s editors announce the winners of the 2022 Laureate Awards. Scroll through this gallery to see the four winners for defense.

For more information on attending this year’s Laureate Awards Gala and a list of past winners dating back to 1957, go to laureates.aviationweek.com.

DARPA and Sikorsky conducted the first fully autonomous flights of a UH-60 Black Hawk with no crew aboard the helicopter. On Feb. 5, the crew landed the helicopter, switched to autonomy, stepped out, and the uninhabited Black Hawk performed a 30-min. preplanned mission using Sikorsky’s Matrix autonomy system to navigate a simulated urban environment.

U.S. Air Force Air Mobility Command led the evacuation of 120,000 people from Afghanistan during a chaotic three-week withdrawal in August and September 2021. It is considered the largest noncombatant military airlift in history: The operation carried 21,000 evacuees in one day at its peak. Aircraft from more than 30 nations joined the effort, as did the U.S. Civil Reserve Air Fleet.

The Vanilla Unmanned prototype set a world record for unrefueled, internal-combustion endurance of an uncrewed aircraft with an eight-day, 50-min. 47-sec. flight. Developed with the U.S. Air Force 412th Test Wing’s Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force, the Group 3 UAS completed a 12,200-mi. flight over Edwards AFB, California, carrying a communications relay system.

Derek Tournear, Director of the Space Development Agency (SDA), achieved the near impossible. He took over SDA in 2019, solidified its vision for an ever-updating constellation of communication, tracking and targeting satellites, and put demonstrations on contract. SDA’s early demonstrations were in orbit by 2021, placing the agency’s vision on a path to success.

Since its inception in 1957, Aviation Week Network’s Laureate Awards have honored extraordinary achievements in aerospace. Innovators that represent the values and vision of the global aerospace community have changed the way people work, and move through the world. Don’t miss your chance to celebrate these astonishing achievements!
 
Learn more.

Continuing a 65-year tradition of honoring innovators, extraordinary achievements and exemplary leadership in the aerospace, defense and aviation industries, Aviation Week’s editors announce the winners of the 2022 Laureate Awards. This year’s awards honor 18 individuals, companies and programs in four categories—Commercial Aviation, Space, Defense and Business Aviation—as well as Lifetime Achievement Awards for two exceptional industry leaders.

The 65th annual Laureate Awards will be presented at a black-tie gala at the National Building Museum in Washington on Nov. 3. That evening, editors will reveal four Grand Laureates selected from the winners in each primary category.

For more information on attending this year’s Laureate Awards Gala and a list of past winners dating back to 1957, go to laureates.aviationweek.com.