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

The X-62 VISTA flies in the skies over Edwards Air Force Base, California, March 23, 2023. (Air Force photo by Ethan Wagner)

Pentagon takes AI dogfighting to next level in real-world flight tests against human F-16 pilot

AI

Students move pieces around the board during a war-game based on Pacific conflict while attending Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, December 21, 2023. (U.S. Air Force photo by Billy Blankenship)

Air Force sees opportunities for AI to improve wargaming

AI

(Getty Images)

Rocket Lab, True Anomaly win contracts for US military’s Victus Haze project

Space

(LinkedIn photo)

Chandra Donelson to serve as acting Air Force chief data and AI officer

AI

Next-generation air dominance and CCA drone concept art (Lockheed Martin image)

Navy aiming for $15M price tag for CCA drones; avoid long-term sustainment costs

Weapons

(Epirus image)

Navy to test Epirus high-power microwave’s ability to zap maritime drones

Weapons

Robotic Combat Vehicle prototype during soldier experimentation at the National Training Center, NTC, Fort Irwin, CA from July to September 2023. (Photo by Savannah Baldwin

Anduril, Palantir awarded contracts for Army robotic combat vehicle software system integration

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)

US military deploys new JADC2 capability to Middle East

AI

A U.S. Marine holds a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency Information Innovation Office challenge coin after being presented the coin on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, Dec 1, 2022. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Christopher R. Lape)

DARPA transitions new technology to shield military AI systems from trickery

AI