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 Sgt. David Ngo, a UH-60 helicopter repairer with Detachment 2, Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 168th Aviation Regiment (General Support), Washington National Guard, services a UH-60L Black Hawk after medevac training at Yakima Training Center, Wash., July 20, 2025. (U.S. Army National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Adeline Witherspoon)

Army needs to ask for ‘the right data’ along with right to repair, acquisition chief says

Tech

U.S. Navy Adm. Alvin Holsey, the commander of U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), and Ecuadorian Chief of Defense Gen. Henry Delgado Salvador sign a Communication Information Security Memorandum of Agreement in Santo Domingo, Ecuador, September 22, 2025. (Photo courtesy U.S. Embassy Ecuador)

Hegseth announces, without explanation, that Southcom commander Adm. Holsey is retiring

Tech

A C100 drone flies on Fort Hood, Texas, Sept. 17, 2025. The 1st Cavalry Division is currently modernizing its formation with updated drone training as a part of its “Pegasus Charge” transforming in contact initiative. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jacob Nunnenkamp)

Army ‘on a path’ to meeting Hegseth’s ambitious drone goals

Tech

Soldiers assigned to Assault Company, 1st Battalion, 8th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, head out on a patrol during a field training exercise, demonstrating Next Generation Command and Control AN/PRC-166 radio technology on Fort Carson, Colorado, September 18, 2025. The NGC2 ecosystem integrated software applications, infrastructure, data, and transport into a unified operational architecture, providing commanders with real-time information to make more, better and faster decisions. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. William Rogers)

Army preparing to stand up new organization to oversee its data environment

Tech

U.S. Army Stryker M1127 Reconnaissance Vehicles, assigned to Lightning Platoon, 3rd Squadron, 2nd Cavalry Regiment, are staged to demonstrate anti-UAS capabilities during the static display portion of Project Flytrap 4.0, at Bemowo Piskie Training Area, July 29, 2025. Soldiers from the U.S. Army’s 2nd Cavalry Regiment joined the British army’s 1st Battalion, Royal Yorkshire Regiment, July 27 to August 1, 2025, to train and test technology and tactics to defeat unmanned aerial systems (UAS) threats during Project Flytrap. Project Flytrap 4.0 is the fourth in a series of counter-UAS training events conducted by Soldiers from the U.S. and U.K. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Alejandro Carrasquel)

Army moving forward with ‘sled’ concept for maneuver air defense against drones, other aircraft

Tech

Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll fires the M250 while visiting Fort Campbell, Ky., September 9, 2025. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. David Resnick)

Driscoll teases major Army acquisition reorganization in fiery speech at AUSA

Emerging Tech

Kirsten Davies, nominee to be chief information officer of the Defense Department, arrives for her Senate Armed Services Committee confirmation hearing in Dirksen building on Thursday, September 18, 2025. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

Senate committee advances Davies nomination for Pentagon CIO

IT

Airmen from the 67th Cyberspace Wing review daily tasks at Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland’s Medina annex, Sept. 5, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo illustration by Jason W. Edwards)

Wilsbach, Trump’s pick for Air Force chief, notes retention and training of cyber experts ‘suffering’

Cyber

An upgraded Ground Based Interceptor with a Capability Enhanced-II Block 1 Exo-Atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) is launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, during Flight Test Ground-based Midcourse Defense Weapon System-12, or FTG-12, on December 11, 2023. (Photo by Ryan Keith)

Missile Defense Agency looking to upgrade algorithms to improve object classification

AI