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

A robotic combat vehicle navigates in the field during Project Convergence at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, on Oct. 20, 2021.

Army to release draft RFP for robotic combat vehicle rapid prototypes

Weapons

A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, March 19, 2020, during a Department of Defense flight experiment. (U.S. Navy photo by Luke Lamborn)

Army assuming ‘a lot of risk’ as it moves to field hypersonic weapons by end of fiscal year

Weapons

A common hypersonic glide body (C-HGB) launches from Pacific Missile Range Facility, Kauai, Hawaii, March 19, 2020, during a Department of Defense flight experiment. (U.S. Navy photo by Luke Lamborn)

DOD moves to boost capacity for testing hypersonic weapons

Weapons

A robotic combat vehicle navigates in the field during Project Convergence at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, on Oct. 20, 2021.

New Army white paper lays out vision for high-tech force in 2030

Emerging Tech

(Getty Images)

York Space Systems lands contract to build T1DES satellites for Pentagon

Space

Students return to the University of Virginia for the fall semester on August 19, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia.

UVA receives $4.5M award from Pentagon for hypersonics research

Weapons

Space Development Agency Director Derek Tournear is interviewed by DefenseScoop Managing Editor Jon Harper at DefenseTalks, Sept. 15, 2022.

SDA taps Ball Aerospace to build satellites for new experimental testbed

Space

Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment William LaPlante holds a press brief at the Pentagon, May 6, 2022. (DoD Photo by U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class James K. Lee)

Pentagon acquisition chief sees ‘lots of different options’ for procuring kamikaze drones

Weapons

DJI Matrice 300 reconnaissance drones, bought in the frame of program ‘The Army of Drones’ are seen during test flights in the Kyiv region on August 2, 2022, prior to being sent to the front line. – ‘The Army of Drones’ is a project initiated by the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Digital Transformation which is a comprehensive program in which organisation purchases drones, repair them, and train operators. (Photo by Sergei SUPINSKY / AFP) (Photo by SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon tight-lipped about new counter-drone technology destined for Ukraine

Weapons