About Breaking Defense

Aaron Mehta is editor in chief of Breaking Defense. He previously served as deputy editor and senior Pentagon correspondent for Defense News, as well as a staff writer for the non-profit Center for Public Integrity. Over his career, Mehta has interviewed dozens of defense leaders from around the globe, covering the intersection of policy, industry and technology at the highest national security levels.

Mehta has a particular interest in nuclear issues, foreign weapon sales and NATO issues. Originally from outside Boston, Mass., he now lives in the Washington, D.C. area.

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Lee Ferran is the Deputy Editor of Breaking Defense, responsible for editing coverage, organizing, scheduling and optimizing editorial operations, and developing our content platforms. Lee brings significant journalistic experience to the role, working at ABC News for over nine years as a national security reporter, investigative reporter and editor of their enterprise investigations unit. Over his career Lee has covered US military budgets and spending, cybersecurity vulnerabilities and controversial counter-terrorism programs. He’s the recipient of two News Emmy Awards. Lee’s an avid traveler, movie addict and amateur coder, with particular interest in media technology. A native of Georgia, Lee is a graduate of Wake Forest University.

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Theresa Hitchens covers all things space for Breaking Defense. The former Defense News editor was a senior research associate at the University of Maryland’s Center for International and Security Studies at Maryland (CISSM). Before that, she spent six years in Geneva, Switzerland as director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR).

A sci-fi geek, voracious reader, enthusiastic cook, dabbler in poetry, Theresa is also the proud mom of a wonderful young man by the name of Nicholas.

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Valerie covers Congress and the defense business beat for Breaking Defense. She previously covered military aviation and the Pentagon for Breaking Defense, before spending a year covering commercial aviation for Reuters. Valerie has extensive national security reporting expertise, having served as the air warfare beat reporter for Defense News for five years. During that time her work was recognized by numerous awards, including the prestigious National Press Club Michael A. Dornheim Award for defense journalism. She previously worked at Defense Daily, National Defense Magazine, and spent two years as the Washington correspondent for the Tokyo Chunichi Shimbun, and is a graduate of the renowned University of Missouri-Columbia journalism program.

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Mark Pomerleau covers networks and information warfare for Breaking Defense. Mark has extensive experience covering defense technology over the past 10 years reporting for C4ISRNET, Defense News and DefenseScoop prior. He earned a BS in political Science from Westfield State University. In his role as senior reporter for networks and information warfare, Mark covers cyber, electronic warfare, information operations, influence, intelligence, special operations, battlefield networks and data.

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Ashley Roque covers the Pentagon, White House and National Security Council for Breaking Defense. Over the past two decades, she’s reported on defense, US politics, and foreign policy for publications inside and outside of the United States including Janes, Roll Call, Inside Defense and Shephard Media. Ashley holds a BA in English with a minor in journalism from Florida State University, and a master’s degree in conflict transformation from the University of Basel.

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Michael Marrow covers air warfare for Breaking Defense. He holds a BA in history from the University of Virginia and started out as a freelance reporter covering local news in Fairfax County, Virginia and policing in Charlottesville, Virginia. Michael previously reported on the Air Force and Space Force for Inside Defense, where he tracked major acquisitions, policy changes and modernization efforts.

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Diana Stancy covers naval warfare for Breaking Defense. She previously covered the White House for Fox News Digital, where she focused on foreign policy and national security issues. Prior to covering the White House, she worked at Military Times and Navy Times covering overseas operations, leadership, and personnel issues. She received a Military Reporters and Editors journalism contest award in November 2025 for her work at Navy Times. She studied political science and journalism at Elon University, and is currently earning her master’s degree in journalism at Georgetown University.

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Carley Welch covers the US Army and land warfare for Breaking Defense. She earned a BS in journalism from James Madison University and a MA in investigative reporting from American University where she was part of the team that won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service. She previously covered the networks and digital warfare beat for Breaking Defense.

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Sydney J. Freedberg Jr. has written for Breaking Defense since 2011 and served as deputy editor for the site’s first decade, covering technology, strategy, and policy with a particular focus on the US Army. He’s now a contributing editor focused on cyber, robotics, AI, and other critical technologies and policies that will shape the future of warfare. Sydney began covering defense at National Journal magazine in 1997 and holds degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, and Georgetown.

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Tim Martin is Breaking Defense’s European Bureau Chief, leading regional coverage of the NATO nations and European industry. He joined Breaking Defense in 2022 after a three year spell at Shephard Media as Air Editor. Based in Belfast, Tim holds two Defence Media Awards to his name, and has bylines with a number of B2B and print media publications, including the Irish Times newspaper.

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Agnes Helou is Breaking Defense’s Middle East Bureau Chief, with close to a decade of experience in covering regional defense and strategic topics. She was the managing Editor of Security and Defense Arabia, an Arabic language defense website and magazine, and covered the Middle East and North Africa defense and security topics for Defense News for three years. Her reporting expertise covers the Gulf, North Africa, Middle East and Southern Europe.

Agnes has a master’s degree and is pursuing her PhD in media economics from the Doctoral School of Literature, Humanities & Social Sciences in Lebanon. Her interests include artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, air defense, maritime and border security regional strategic issues.

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Mike Yeo is the Indo-Pacific Bureau Chief for Breaking Defense. Based in Singapore and Melbourne, Australia, Mike covers the region from India to Australia, Southeast Asia, Japan, and the Korean Peninsula. He has more than a decade of experience covering the regional defense beat for various defense media outlets, including for Defense News and most recently the Straits Times. His area of interests include air power and regional geopolitics.

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Seth J. Frantzman, based in Jerusalem, covers the Israeli defense sector for Breaking Defense. As a correspondent and analyst for The Jerusalem Post and other publications, Frantzman covered the war against the Islamic State, several conflicts in Gaza, the conflict in Ukraine, and the refugee crises in Eastern Europe. He is the author of two books, including 2021’s Drone Wars.

Daniel has been covering the military since 2010, including nearly a decade at Sightline Media Group where he served as Executive Producer and co-anchor of Defense News Weekly and Military Times. In 2024, he covered the presidential election, border security and breaking news for Agence France-Presse. His work has appeared in major publications, news shows and streaming services around the world. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Daniel deployed twice with the 1st Armored Division as a reconnaissance soldier. He is a 2010 graduate of Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

Alyssa Schonhaut is the assistant editor at Breaking Defense. She has previously worked as a digital editor for Government Matters at WJLA and then for Federal News Network. She graduated with an M.A. in media, technology and democracy in 2022 from American University, where she also received a B.A. in journalism. Originally from Rhode Island, Alyssa has been living in the Washington, D.C area since 2015.

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Barry Rosenberg is an expert journalist in defense cybersecurity and information technology issues. He is former editor of the trade magazine C4ISRNET, which he helped relaunch in 2013. Before that he was editor of Defense Systems at 1105 Media, focusing on IT and C4ISR topics. He recently worked in key content roles at information technology firms SILA, which specializes in blockchain technologies and cyber security, and Trace Systems. Earlier in his career he was founding editor of Aviation Week’s Overhaul & Maintenance magazine, editor of Defense News’ show daily and managing editor of Aviation Week’s Show News. Rosenberg is a Philadelphia native, an avid writer and co-author of “Mavericks of the Sky: The First Daring Pilots of the U.S. Air Mail”.

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Riad Kahwaji brings vast experience and reporting contacts in the Middle East. He has 32 years of experience as a journalist and Middle East security analyst. Kahwaji served as Middle East bureau chief for Defense News for eight years. with prior work at Jane’s defense group and the BBC World Service. Riad has authored two books in Arabic: “Air Power and Future Wars” in 2020; and “The Basis of the Lebanese Defense Strategy” in 2009. He is founder of SEGMA, the premier defense conference organizer in the Middle East. Riad earned his M.A. in War Studies from King’s College, London. He is based in Dubai and has offices in Lebanon.

Patrick Dawson is a student at the University of Colorado Boulder, currently spending a semester in DC as an editorial fellow with Breaking Defense. Previously a Colorado sports reporter with Sko Buffs Sports and Rivals Network, Patrick comes from a military family.

Christina Mackenzie covers Europe’s defense industry for Breaking Defense, a sector she’s been reporting on for over two decades. The former European editor of Defense Technology International and prior to that of Flight Global, Christina has also dipped in and out of Defense News over the years. Her base is just south of Paris.

Andrew White is a veteran defense journalist of nearly 20 years, who covers the UK for Breaking Defense. Splitting his time between London and Honolulu, Andrew specializes in writing about special operations, disruptive technologies and emerging trends in defense and security markets.

Bartosz Głowacki, based in Warsaw, writes on Poland’s aerospace and defense industry issues and his home country’s politics for Breaking Defense.

Jonas Olsson, based in Stockholm, specializes in regional security on NATO’s northern flank, particularly focusing on naval issues and the strategic and technical aspects of global nuclear forces. With over 30 years at Sweden’s public broadcaster SVT, Jonas has dedicated much of his career to defense issues since the mid-1990s.

Kollen Post is a Kyiv-based freelance journalist, photographer, interpreter and contributor to Breaking Defense. Based in Ukraine since early 2023, he focuses his reporting on technology and wartime development. He speaks Russian and Ukrainian and can be reached at [email protected].

Wilder Alejandro Sánchez covers defense & security and geopolitical issues in Latin America and the Caribbean for Breaking Defense. He also writes for Janes, Shephard Media, and the Center for International Maritime Security, among several other publications.

Reuben F. Johnson is a thirty year veteran of defense reporting and analysis who covers Ukraine and Russia for Breaking Defense. He has reported from most of the world’s major aerospace and defense expositions, as well as from the 2004-2005 and 2013-2014 Ukrainian revolutions.

David Smith has 30 years of experience in all facets of media – digital media, audience development, events, sales, marketing, product and content development. He’s an expert in defense, government and international markets and a leader in crafting innovative and creative media approaches to these markets. He began at Jane’s Defence Weekly and subsequently served for nearly two decades as VP of marketing and business development at Army Times Publishing (now Sightline Media,) where he was a key leader on the team that launched and grew Defense News. He later became a government communications director at TIBCO Software and publisher for defense products at 1105 Media. Smith returned to Sightline Media as VP of Network Solutions, founding C4ISR & Networks (later C4ISRNET,) and later became president of the company, where he stabilized, diversified and grew the company after its divesture from TEGNA Inc. Among other accomplishments in the field, Smith conceived and launched Space News, the Military Times Service Member of the Year program, the C4ISRNET Conference, the Dubai Air Chiefs Conference, the Defense News Conference and the brand C4ISRNET.

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Tania Norris brings 25 years of success in government and defense client relations, management and sales to Breaking Defense. Tania spent a considerable portion of her career at 1105 Government Information Group, representing the Federal Computer Week (FCW), Government Computer News (GCN) and Washington Technology brands. Tania later worked for FedScoop. and subsequently worked for Defense News for 4 years, quickly becoming one of their most successful sales development professionals. Tania is expert in digital media sales and building innovative, creative media plans for clients to engage with the leadership audience in government markets.

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Renee Wheeler has over 25 years of experience in the defense media sector. With vast international experience, Renee is highly skilled at developing campaigns that reach and engage leadership in the defense market and is known for the quality and integrity of her approach, forming superb relationships with her clients. Renee worked for Defense News for nearly 25 years, an integral part of the sales success of Defense News since its inception. She has also represented Space News and worked on products for the Military Times and C4ISRNET and benefits clients with deep knowledge on the dynamics of military and government media and marketing.

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Jerry Foley has 20 years experience in defense and government media, in business development, marketing, sales and communications. Jerry most recently was with Foreign Policy magazine, where he was Director of Strategic Partnerships, charged with building their defense and national security business portfolio. Before that, Jerry was Managing Director for Government Matters, where he guided content and client strategies for the defense and federal broadcast outlet. Jerry also worked at Defense News and C4ISRNET for nearly 12 years, ultimately promoted to Vice President for Global Sales & Strategy. He began his career at Government Executive Media Group, where he helped manage digital operations. Jerry holds a masters in business management, strategy and leadership from Michigan State University and a BA in government from Georgetown University.

A native of the Detroit area, he currently resides in DC with his wife and two sons. When not in the office or at a defense conference, you’ll likely find him testing a new recipe in the kitchen or trying to get to one of DC’s new breweries.

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