Mikayla Easley

Mikayla Easley reports on the Pentagon’s acquisition and use of emerging technologies. Prior to joining DefenseScoop, she covered national security and the defense industry for National Defense Magazine. She received a BA in Russian language and literature from the University of Michigan and a MA in journalism from the University of Missouri. You can follow her on Twitter @MikaylaEasley

Articles by Author

U.S. Space Force Guardians assigned to Space Delta 5 monitor computer workstations Dec. 18, 2025, at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif. (Photo by David Dozoretz)

Space Force using ‘integrated test teams’ to speed up capability delivery

Space

Lumberjack drone (Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman)

Army tests autonomous strike drone featuring AI-enabled targeting capabilities

AI

A SpaceX Falcon 9 transporter mission launches with three NGA CubeSats onboard (Credit: SpaceX)

NGA launches 3 CubeSats to test improvements in geomagnetic data collection

Space

SES Keith Hardiman. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)

Keith Hardiman appointed deputy CIO for Air Force, Space Force

IT

The L3Harris-built Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) satellite launched on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket Aug. 12 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. NTS-3 will be used for a variety of experiments to include testing on-orbit, next-generation technologies that assist warfighters in contested environments. (L3Harris photo.)

Space Force mitigating impacts to programs amid grounding of Vulcan rocket

Space

On February 12, 2025, the U.S. Army successfully executed two Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 1 engagements during a flight test at White Sands Missile Range. The missiles, launched from a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, commonly known as HIMARS, were evaluated as part of ongoing efforts to enhance the Army’s long-range precision strike capability. (Photo by Darrell Ames)

DOD inks agreement with Lockheed Martin aimed at accelerating Precision Strike Missile production

Weapons

Kirsten Davies testifies during a hearing held by the Senate Armed Services Committee September 18, 2025 in Washington, DC. Davies was nominated to be the Chief Information Officer for the Department of Defense. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Pentagon wants greater visibility into cloud spending with JWCC Next overhaul

IT

The U.S. Army officially received a groundbreaking H-60Mx Black Hawk helicopter, extensively modified to fly with or without a pilot at the controls. (Photo courtesy Sikorsky, a Lockheed Martin company)

Army receives first optionally-piloted Black Hawk helicopter

Emerging Tech

Sailors assigned to the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Carney (DDG 64) stand watch in the ship’s Combat Information Center during an operation in the Red Sea to defeat a combination of Houthi missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles, Oct. 19, 2023. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Aaron Lau)

Navy program turns ships into continuous data pipelines for AI development

AI