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

Members of the 18th Space Defense Combat Squadron, a unit assigned to U.S. Space Forces – Space under the USSF Force Generation model, observe orbital data at Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., Oct. 4, 2024.  (Photo by David Dozoretz)

Space Force on track to deliver modernized space monitoring software in 2025

Space

(Getty Images)

Space Force plans to kick off 3 additional commercial reserve fleet ‘pilots’ in 2025

Space

U.S. Army Soldiers assigned to the 7th Transportation Brigade (Expeditionary), U.S. Navy Sailors assigned to Amphibious Construction Battalion 1, and Israel Defense Forces emplace the Trident Pier on the Gaza coast, May 16, 2024. (Photo source: DVIDS)

Space Force continues expansion of commercial surveillance, data analytics program

Space

(Getty Images)

Space Force launches new effort to share unclassified threat data with commercial industry

Space

United States Space Force General Stephen N. Whiting speaks during a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee at the Hart Senate Office Building on February 29, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Space Command moves to support new capabilities, strategies for warfare in space

Space

U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, listen to a question from a reporter during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on March 13, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Pentagon IG launches investigation into Hegseth’s involvement in ‘SignalGate’

Tech

Zero trust security system big data concept rendering (Getty Images)

DISA’s Thunderdome achieves advanced zero-trust goals

IT

A view of the Pentagon on December 13, 2024, in Washington, DC. (Photo by DANIEL SLIM/AFP via Getty Images)

Trump taps hypersonics expert to oversee Pentagon’s S&T portfolio

Emerging Tech

Troy Meink appears before the Senate Armed Services Committee for his nomination to be secretary of the Air Force in Washington, D.C., March 27, 2025. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)

Trump’s Air Force secretary nominee pledges ‘holistic look’ at service modernization efforts

Space