Jon Harper

Jon Harper is Managing Editor of DefenseScoop, the Scoop News Group’s online publication focused on the Pentagon and its pursuit of new capabilities. 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 (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) @Jon_Harper_

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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

Secretary of the Navy John Phelan greets crewmembers attached to the fast-attack submarine USS Iowa (SSN 797) during a commissioning ceremony in Groton, Connecticut, April 5, 2025. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer Joshua Karsten)

Navy reviewing contracts as Secretary Phelan looks to eliminate waste, ‘inefficiencies’

Tech

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth welcomes Elon Musk as a visitor to the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., March 21, 2025. (DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Madelyn Keech)

DOGE reviewing Navy software enterprise

IT

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