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_

Articles by Author

An F-15E Strike Eagle from the 96th Test Wing’s 40th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin AFB, Florida flies in formation with an XQ-58A Valkyrie flown by artificial intelligence agents developed by the Autonomous Air Combat Operations, or AACO, team from AFRL. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Air Force flight tests AI agents with Valkyrie drone

AI

Non-standard commercial vehicles (SOCOM image)

SOCOM hunting for more flexible IT, comms gear for souped-up commercial vehicles

IT

The monitor from a drone shows a destroyed Russian tank during a surveillance flight near Bakhmut on July 16, 2023 in Donetsk District, Ukraine. (Photo by Paula Bronstein /Getty Images)

Ukraine is ‘extraordinary laboratory’ for military AI, senior DOD official says

AI

The Booz Allen Hamilton logo is seen on a building in Annapolis Junction, Maryland, on March 11, 2019. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

DISA awards production deal for Thunderdome zero-trust initiative

Cyber

TAIWAN STRAIT (Sept. 20, 2022) Boatswain’s Mate Seaman Joseph Dumas, from West Palm Beach, Florida, identifies contacts while standing lookout watch on the bridge wing of the guided-missile destroyer USS Higgins (DDG 76) as the ship conducts routine Taiwan Strait transit. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Donavan K. Patubo)

Navy pings industry while scouting for new tech to help Pacific Fleet counter China

Weapons

U.S. soldiers assigned to 82nd Airborne 3rd Brigade Combat Team, train with the Integrated Visual Augmentation System as a part of Project Convergence 2022. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thiem Huynh)

Army acquisition chief sees ‘competitive environment’ for IVAS alternatives if Microsoft’s system doesn’t satisfy

Emerging Tech

(Army photo)

Army picks BigBear.ai for next phase of AIMMS program

IT

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin speaks with civic leaders from Charleston, S.C. during a meeting at the Pentagon, Arlington, Va., June 8, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)

Gen. David Allvin gets nod to be next Air Force chief of staff

Tech

(Getty Images)

DISA picks vendors for satellite services under $900M contracting vehicle

Space