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

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

Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall makes remarks during the Senior Leader Orientation Course at Joint Base Andrews, Md., April 11, 2022. (U.S. Air Force photo by Eric Dietrich)

Kendall: Air Force’s next-gen fighter will be ‘better than anything’ China can produce

Weapons

A Ukrainian soldier pilots a drone in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on September 25, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP) (Photo by JUAN BARRETO/AFP via Getty Images)

Counter-drone tech, radars included in new $1.1B Ukraine assistance package

Weapons

Self driving vehicles take part in a test ride on the A2 motorway in Zijderveld, on March 16, 2016. (Photo credit KOEN VAN WEEL/AFP via Getty Images)

Pentagon may take a page out of Tesla’s playbook and run AI in ‘shadow mode’

Emerging Tech

Concept art for the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile (HACM). (Image courtesy of Raytheon Technologies)

HACM contract winners see opportunities for producing less expensive hypersonics at higher rates

Weapons

Concept art for the Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapons Concept that Raytheon and Northrop Grumman have partnered on. (Image courtesy of Northrop Grumman)

Raytheon tapped to develop Air Force’s Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile

Weapons

(Getty Images)

Pentagon to phase out use of geostationary satellites for missile warning, missile tracking

Space

A 522nd Special Operations Squadron MC-130J Combat Shadow II aircraft, flies over the skies New Mexico., Jan. 4, 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman James Bell)

AFSOC adding new electronic warfare capabilities, other weapons to C-130s

Weapons