Jon Harper

Jon Harper is Managing Editor of DefenseScoop, the Scoop News Group’s online publication focused on the Pentagon and its pursuit of new capabilities. He leads an award-winning team of journalists in providing breaking news and in-depth analysis on military technology and the ways in which it is shaping how the Defense Department operates and modernizes. You can also follow him on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) @Jon_Harper_

Articles by Author

An aerial view of the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., May 15, 2023. (DoD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. John Wright)

Trump taps former AWS exec for senior role in Pentagon’s research and engineering directorate

Tech

(June 26, 2025) An E/A-18G Growler, attached to Electronic Attack Squadron (VAQ) 139, launches from the flight deck of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Nimitz (CVN 68) during flight operations in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (Official U.S. Navy photo)

US military gets new combatant commanders for Centcom, Eucom

Tech

U.S. Soldiers from various units across Europe launch a Switchblade 600 during Loitering Munitions Training at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, Nov. 5, 2024. This was the first time U.S. Soldiers launched Switchblade 600s, a loitering munition system, in Europe. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Cody Nelson)

Army’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal aims to equip infantry brigades with more kamikaze drones

Weapons

A rendering of what someone using the new Project Overmatch capability known as Maven would look like. A unified tactical display that provides insight on vessels across the world, the Maven program overlays real-time ship readiness and sustainment data right at the user’s fingertips by utilizing artificial intelligence. It was created by Project Overmatch and Palantir in collaboration. (Image found on DVIDS as stock photo courtesy of Palantir)

Navy CTO unveils list of priority areas for tech investment

Emerging Tech

(Aug. 3, 2022) Vice Adm. Brad Cooper signs a guest book at the Egyptian Navy headquarters in Alexandria, Egypt. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Terry Vongsouthi)

Centcom leader highlights need for more tech that can target underground sites

Weapons

A B-2 Spirit returns to Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, from a deployment to Diego Garcia, British Indian Ocean Territory, May 9, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Devan Halstead)

Air Force drops 14 MOP bombs on Iranian nuclear sites during first operational use of the weapon

Weapons

The 37th Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, a native of Massachusetts, cites the oath of reenlistment to Sgt. Alejandro Delarosa, a legal chief with Marine Corps Forces Europe and Africa legal office and a native of Texas, in Belleau, France on May 25, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Juaquin Greaves)

Trump picks Marine to be next Joint Chiefs vice chairman

Tech

Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC), utilizes the 1MC announcement system from the bridge of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Mason (DDG 87) to address the crew during a ship visit, Aug. 13, 2024. (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Nathan T. Beard)

Trump nominates Adm. Caudle to be chief of naval operations

Tech

(Photo by Cheng Xin/Getty Images)

Pentagon tapping OpenAI, other vendors for ‘frontier AI’ projects

AI