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

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Reconciliation bill includes billions for new drone capabilities

Weapons

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan visits Marine Forces Special Operations Command on Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, April 10, 2025. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Evan Jones)

Navy Secretary Phelan terminates IT contracts, grants amid DOGE drive

IT

Tom Rondeau, director of the Pentagon’s FutureG Office, speaks at AITalks, April 24, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Scoop News Group)

Pentagon’s FutureG Office gearing up for new prototyping effort

Emerging Tech

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DIU soliciting industry for supersized underwater drones

Weapons

A U.S. Air Force Jump-20 unmanned aerial vehicle assigned to the 27th Special Operations Wing flies over a sunset at Melrose Air Force Range, N.M., June 20, 2023. The Jump-20 UAV was used to exercise the single operator, multi-system control model in a simulated deployed environment. (U.S. Air Force photo Senior Airman Alexcia Givens)

DOD wants communications tech to enable commandos’ drone swarms

Tech

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Brien Disbro, a crew chief assigned to the174th Attack Wing, performs post-flight maintenance on an MQ-9 Reaper on Mar. 10, 2025 at Springfield-Beckley Air National Guard Base in Springfield, Ohio. The MQ-9 arrived for Advanced Wrath, a two-week exercise supporting U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue operations, and testing for the Air Force Research Laboratory. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Shane Hughes)

Air Force officials hungry for SOUP

AI

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth delivers recorded remarks at the Pentagon, Washington D.C., March 20, 2025. (DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech)

Hegseth issues new directive to rein in Pentagon spending on IT services contracts

IT

Retired Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, President Trump’s nominee to be Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, arrives for his Senate Armed Services Committee Confirmation hearing on April 01, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Caine confirmed as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Trump’s top military adviser

Tech

U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth deliver remarks in the Oval Office of the White House on March 21, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump directs Pentagon to tee up major acquisition programs for potential cancellation

Tech