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

U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 91st and 96th Civil Affairs Battalions (Special Operations) (Airborne) receives a briefing about artificial intelligence model used during for a tabletop exercise as part of Atlas Lion at Fort Bragg, N.C. Oct. 27, 2025. The Atlas Lion Table-Top Exercise is an AI supported simulation designed to validate Civil Affairs Company’s core competencies in a digital training environment, ensuring readiness for real-world operations by validating their ability to effectively support civilian populations and local governance. (U.S. Army photo by Pfc. Natalia Hernandez)

SOCOM to evaluate industry hardware solutions for powering AI workloads

AI

U.S. Cyber Command — Inside U.S. Cyber Command at Fort Meade, Maryland. (Josef Cole / DOD / U.S. Cyber Command)

Pentagon touts revised cyber force generation model, but some experts say it’s insufficient

Cyber

U.S. Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Shay Burnett, an instructor with Advanced Infantry Training Battalion, School of Infantry – East, and a native of Texas, controls a Neros Archer small unmanned aircraft system during a kinetic first-person view drone range on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Sept. 12, 2025. The range was conducted to validate a scalable, repeatable methodology for enabling FPV strike operations and used as a reference to support cost-effective training and eventual kinetic employment. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Zachariah Ferraro)

SOCOM solicits industry to train commandos to build and fly FPV drones

Weapons

Dylan Driscoll, a representative for Anduril, talks to Senior Airman Thomas Royce about information fed into Lattice, the software that is part of the command-and-control function of U.S. Northern Command’s Counter-small Unmanned Aerial System fly-away kit, during an exercise at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., Oct. 23, 2025. (Department of Defense photo by John Ingle)

Army picks Anduril to provide next-gen fire control platform for IBCS-M program

AI

(Screenshot from DVIDS broadcast of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaking at the National War College, Nov. 7, 2025.)

Hegseth looking to sideline laggards in acquisition community, industry

Tech

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

Nominee for Pentagon CAPE director says office’s workforce is strained, needs new tech

Tech

(Getty Images)

Nominee for Pentagon strategist outlines approach for stymieing potential Chinese attacks on Taiwan

Tech

Laser stock photo (Getty Images)

Army takes another step on path toward producing new drone-killing laser weapons

Emerging Tech

U.S. Air Force Gen. Ken Wilsbach, commander of Air Combat Command, speaks to Capt. Nick “Laz” Le Tourneau, F-22 Raptor Demonstration Team commander and pilot, following the team’s certification flight at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, Jan. 24, 2025. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech Sgt. Matthew Coleman-Foster)

Gen. Wilsbach, newly confirmed by the Senate, faces major challenges as Air Force chief

Tech