Jon Harper

Jon Harper is Editor-in-Chief of DefenseScoop. 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: @Jon_Harper_

Articles by Author

Matthew Swartz (Navy photo)

Adm. Caudle appoints new executive director, senior advocate for Navy’s civilian workforce

Tech

Adm. Karl Thomas, commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command (USFFC), salutes side boys during the USFFC assumption of command ceremony in the hangar bay aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN 75). (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Dustin Knight/Released)

Adm. Thomas takes command of Fleet Forces Command

Tech

Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher, or CAML. (U.S. Army photo)

Army issues RFIs for Common Autonomous Multi-Domain Launcher program

Weapons

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky (R) and Secretary General of NATO Mark Rutte shake hands during their press-conference following their talks in Kyiv on August 22, 2025, amid Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP via Getty Images)

Ukraine, NATO launch joint program to boost counter-drone tech, other defense capabilities

Tech

A Scan Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle launches from the amphibious dock landing ship USS Comstock. (Photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Joseph Buliavac)

Navy identifies 4 vendors to compete for COCO drone ISR services

Tech

(Getty Images)

Air Force aiming to turbocharge wargaming with AI

AI

U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Logan Knox, a counterintelligence/human intelligence specialist with Marine Rotational Force-Southeast Asia (MRF-SEA), I Marine Expeditionary Force, standby at a virtual live-fire scenario during Exercise Valiant Mark 2022 at the Multi-Mission Range Complex on Pasir Laba Camp, Singapore, Dec. 2, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Ryan H. Pulliam)

Marine Corps wants troops to switch their MOS to counterintelligence, human intelligence

Tech

U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Richard Correll testifies before the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services at a confirmation hearing to become the military deputy commander of U.S. Strategic Command, at the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C., Oct. 30, 2025. (DoW photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 1st Class Eric Brann)

US Strategic Command getting new boss

Tech

U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Kimble Petersen, an aviation survival technician assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point in Kapolei, Hawaii, scans the scene below while being hoisted down from a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter during a training exercise in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii Nov. 12, 2025. Cliff-side and vertical hoist missions often occur in remote or inaccessible terrain, requiring precise aircraft positioning and environmental awareness to avoid obstacles and wind shear. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Tyler Robertson)

Coast Guard envisions using AI to develop acquisition ‘superhighway’

AI