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. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth hosts a drone demonstration at the Pentagon, July 10, 2025. The event was hosted to portray the Secretary of Defense’s initiative of Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Alondra Y. Lopez Gonzalez)

Pentagon could award just 3 vendors for biggest phase of Drone Dominance Program

Weapons

East-Coast-based U.S. Naval Special Warfare Operators (SEALs) participate in a special operations forces exercise off the coast of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Nov. 3, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Bailey Wyman)

CIA, SOCOM gearing up for rapid capability assessment with an eye toward ‘field-forward’ ops

Tech

In this photo illustration, the OpenAI “ChatGPT” AI-generated answer to the question “What can AI offer to humanity?” is seen on a laptop screen on February 03, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Pentagon adding ChatGPT to its enterprise generative AI platform

AI

A U.S. Marine with III Marine Expeditionary Force familiarizes himself with maneuvering drones during the Marine Corps Attack Drone Competition on Camp Schwab, Okinawa, Japan, Dec. 7, 2025. During a two-week period, the Marine Corps Attack Drone Team trained and certified 3rd Marine Division Marines as attack drone operators, attack drone instructor, and payload specialist instructors, increasing the Division’s lethality and capacity of trained and certified attack drone operators and instructors. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Joaquin Dela Torre)

Marine Corps seeks troops with small drone and AI expertise for warfighting lab fellowship

AI

Official photo for Major Gen. Lorna Mahlock, United States Marine Corps.

Lorna Mahlock set as Cybercom deputy commander amid major transition period for the organization

Cyber

Lt. Gen. Francis L. Donovan, vice commander, United States Special Operations Command prepares to test naval special warfare (NSW) dive equipment as part of a visit to Naval Special Warfare Group 1 in San Diego, Feb. 10, 2025. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Charles Propert)

U.S. Southern Command gets new commander amid tensions over drug boat strikes, Venezuela and Cuba

Tech

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

Senior DOD officials back Cybercom 2.0, as Cyber Force debate continues to churn

Cyber

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine walks through NATO Headquarters in Brussel, Belgium, January 21, 2026 during the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session. (DOW photo by Benjamin Applebaum)

Pentagon’s new ‘non-kinetic effects cell’ bolsters Gen. Caine’s goal to better integrate cyber into U.S. military operations

Cyber

A sign for the National Security Agency (NSA), US Cyber Command and Central Security Service, is seen near the visitor’s entrance to the headquarters of the National Security Agency (NSA) at Fort Meade, Maryland, February 14, 2018. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon leaders expect Cybercom 2.0 to help thwart Chinese actors ‘living off the land’

Cyber