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

Lt. David Bailey, from Millersville, Maryland, assigned to air department’s primary flight control and air damage control division, gives the signal for an aircraft to take off from the flight deck of Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington (CVN 73) while underway in the Pacific Ocean, Oct. 15, 2024. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class August Clawson)

Navy provides new details about sixth-gen F/A-XX fighter jet

Weapons

Copperhead-100 and Copperhead-500 on display (Images courtesy of Anduril)

Anduril unveils new torpedo that can be launched by underwater drones

Weapons

This photograph taken on 16 August, 2024, during a media tour organised by Ukraine, shows a destroyed Russian tank outside Ukrainian-controlled Russian town of Sudzha, Kursk region, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Yan DOBRONOSOV / AFP)

Ukraine destroyed 3,000 Russian tanks in past year, US commander tells lawmakers

Tech

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signs a memorandum aboard an E-4B Nightwatch aircraft while flying over the Pacific Ocean, March 28, 2025. (DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech)

DOD’s deferred resignation program to be offered April 7-14

Tech

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)

Lt. Gen. Caine, Trump’s nominee for Joint Chiefs chairman, is gung-ho about commercial tech

Emerging Tech

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) (C) talks with Ranking Member Jack Reed (D-RI) during the confirmation hearing for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Capitol Hill on January 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

5 hot topics Dan ‘Razin’ Caine might address during his confirmation hearing Tuesday

Tech

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth signs a memorandum aboard an E-4B Nightwatch aircraft while flying over the Pacific Ocean, March 28, 2025. (DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech)

DOD reopens deferred resignation program amid push to reduce civilian workforce

Tech

(Screenshot of Michael Duffey, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, testifying at his confirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee, March 27, 2025)

Trump’s Pentagon acquisition chief nominee vows to review controversial CMMC program

Cyber

Lt. Gen. Dan Caine (left) meets with Sen. Jim Banks. (Photo courtesy of Sen. Banks’ office)

Dan ‘Razin’ Caine, Trump’s nominee for chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, set to testify at confirmation hearing

Tech