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_

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U.S. Army Maj. Steven McPherson, a joint doctrine team chief with the National Guard Bureau, looks at the interface of the Maven Smart System in Arlington, Virginia Feb. 20. McPherson was in a class to learn the MSS and its capability to process vast amounts of data from weather to troop locations. (U.S. Army Photo by Master Sgt. Whitney Hughes)

DOD planning to address compute ‘bottleneck’ that could hinder AI proliferation

AI

(Getty Images)

Amid concerns sparked by Mythos, the Pentagon’s cyber policy chief sees ‘huge opportunity’ with frontier AI models

AI

Tom Harker speaks at the UiPath Fusion conference, May 5, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Scoop News Group)

Pentagon to lean on AI to achieve audit goals

AI

(Image courtesy of AV)

Army awards deal to AV for new Switchblade 400 kamikaze drone to support LASSO program

Weapons

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth arrives to testify before the House Armed Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on April 29, 2026 in Washington, DC. Hegseth testified on the Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

Hegseth: Autonomous warfare sub-unified command coming soon

AI

Sailors assigned to the amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) participates in manning the rails as the ship prepares to arrive in Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, Sept. 8, 2025. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Amy Mullins)

Navy looking to expand AI-enabled pilot for talent management

AI

U.S. East coast-based Naval Special Warfare Operators (SEALs) conduct dive operations to increase maritime lethality during training off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, Feb. 18, 2025. Naval Special Warfare Group TWO produces, supports, and deploys the world’s most lethal maritime special operation forces to ensure the United States will deter and win wars. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Katie Cox)

SOCOM highlights 6 focus areas for naval capabilities modernization

Tech

ATLANTIC OCEAN (Dec, 6, 2024) – An IVER4 900 autonomous-underwater vehicle (AUV) is deployed during the Australia, United Kingdom and U.S. (AUKUS) Pillar II Subsea and Seabed Warfare Event Two/Integrated Battle Problem 25.1. During the event, U.S. Navy, Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy personnel launched, tested and provided demonstrations for several unmanned underwater vehicles, to include the Mission Specialist Defender Mark IV remotely-operated vehicle (ROV) and the IVER4 900 autonomous-underwater vehicle. (Image produced utilizing a screen capture from video.) (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Justin E. Yarborough)

DARPA shares ‘Deep Thoughts’ solicitation for autonomous underwater drones

Tech

A poster at the Pentagon, Dec. 12, 2025, lets employees know that a new artificial intelligence tool is available to use at the War Department, and that employees are highly encouraged to use it. (Credit: C. Todd Lopez, DOW)

Pentagon uses GenAI.mil to create 100K agents

AI