The AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition 2026 is right around the corner, which means that defense technology companies will be preparing to announce some of their most exciting, notable news around the event. For many, the conference is part of the natural flow of their yearly media relations program, with seasoned players in the space planning months ahead of time to prepare their AUSA PR strategy.
Whether this is your first time exhibiting at or attending the event and you’re curious how you can make an impact with media, or you’re just wanting to brush up on the “PR 101” ahead of the show, it’s critical to take a step back and see how to successfully leverage industry events like AUSA and make sure they are a seamless addition to your wider defense communications goals.
The Defense Boom Has Created a Battle for Media Attention
The defense industry has seen a major comeback over recent years, turning it into one of the highest growth sectors. From the explosion of drone and C-UAS technologies bringing a massive number of new entrants into space, to the ongoing proliferation of AI and its impact on the deployment of autonomy in the battlefield, defense technology is booming. There’s even an interesting trend of non-defense companies seeing the utility of their technology in defense applications, creating a spike in “dual-use” brands (brands that have both commercial and defense applications of their product) in the market.
This means that there’s more companies vying for the attention of a finite number of journalists covering the space. For brands, this brings up justified concerns about how to break into the defense media landscape effectively. A tight knit, heavily regulated sector like defense naturally brings many defense marketers to the conclusion that industry events are a key lever to pull to build credibility, network with stakeholders, and build authentic relationships with media walking the show floor to see “what’s new”.
AUSA has long been one of the key events in the rotation for any defense brand wanting to stay in the conversation, as the annual conference not only gathers the best of the best of established companies and startups, but it also sees a solid cohort of journalists in attendance (note: high media attendance is not true for every event in the defense space).
What Do Defense Journalists Want to Cover?
Knowing that media will be on-site walking the floor of AUSA is not enough. Brands need to put into focus what journalists in the space are actually interested to cover. Here’s a few different types of news announcements that make the biggest impact with defense media:
- New product launches
- Market entries
- Regional launches or office openings
- Contracts and customer wins
- Operational deployments
- Integrations with established platforms
- Partnerships with primes or early-stage companies
- Manufacturing or production milestones
- Funding tied to specific growth or capability
Having what we call “hard news” to announce at the show gives you a leg up in cutting through the noise and getting media attention. If you’re unsure if the news you are considering announcing will actually garner media interest, having a seasoned Defense PR agency lean on makes all the difference (especially when it comes to justifying event spend and having media spokespeople on-site).
Don’t Wait Until AUSA 2026 (or Any Event) to Start Your Media Relations
Any seasoned Defense PR agency will urge brands to not wait until AUSA 2026, or any event on the schedule, to start executing on a media relations plan. Journalists’ schedules tend to fill up quick, and editorial priorities begin to get solidified months in advance. For this reason, a PR strategy should be as prepped in advance as plans for your booth, on-site networking, and all other event marketing considerations. Cutting through the noise successfully depends equally on the news you want to share and giving your agency enough time to strategize on how to make the most out of it.
Talk to the Wise Up PR Team About Your Defense PR Goals
If you’re looking for support on how to refine your existing defense PR strategy, or if you’re just getting your PR program off the ground and looking for agency support, the Wise Up PR team would love to speak with you about your goals.
Contact us here today to learn more about how our firm’s deep expertise in the space can help you raise awareness at key industry events like AUSA, and much farther beyond it.