Jon Harper

Jon Harper is Editor-in-Chief of DefenseScoop. 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: @Jon_Harper_

Articles by Author

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Urich Garcia, 45th Security Forces Squadron supra coder, writes code in an application, April 25, 2022, at Patrick Space Force Base, Fla. (U.S. Space Force photo by Airman 1st Class Samuel Becker)

Space Force looking to expand ‘Supra Coder’ workforce as it pursues reprogrammable software capabilities

IT

An XQ-58A Valkyrie low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle launches at the Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Dec. 9, 2020. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Joshua King)

Air Force preparing for ‘tethered’ and ‘untethered’ CCA drone operations

AI

In this photo illustration, the OpenAI “ChatGPT” AI-generated answer to the question “What can AI offer to humanity?” is seen on a laptop screen on February 03, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

DOD to convene conference on generative AI amid concerns about ‘hallucinations’

AI

General views of the SVB, Silicon Valley Bank branch on March 17, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by AaronP/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

After Silicon Valley Bank collapse, DIU looking at how it could respond to future bank failures that threaten its industry partners

Tech

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/Released)

Navy plans to spend more than $50M per round on average for CPS hypersonic missiles over next 5 years

Weapons

Dr. Anna Crumbley, a research chemical engineer, removes the solids from a new batch of fermented micro-organisms. The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s Chemical Biological Center is able to produce batches of biomanufactured material at its Aberdeen Proving Ground facility. (Photo by Brian Feeney)

DOD releases RFI eyeing potential Defense Production Act investments to boost US biotech industry

Emerging Tech

An Air Force Research Lab conceptual design for an Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicle (Artwork courtesy of AFRL)

Air Force plans to spend more than $6B on CCA drone programs over the next 5 years

Weapons

Rendering of Hypersonix Launch Systems’ DART AE vehicle. (Hypersonix Launch Systems image courtesy of DIU)

Australian startup tapped to provide airborne hypersonic testing platform for Pentagon

Weapons

Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering Heidi Shyu participates in a virtual event for Engineers Week, the Pentagon, Washington, D.C., Feb. 23, 2022. (DoD photo by Lisa Ferdinando)

Big boost in RDER funding tied to plans to conduct multiple technology ‘sprints’

Emerging Tech