After months of teeing up plans to streamline the military’s software approval process, the U.S. Army launched Project Gatekeeper, a new platform designed to accelerate the cybersecurity review and adoption of commercial software.
The Army officially launched the platform on Oct. 23, an Army spokesperson told MeriTalk.
Access to Project Gatekeeper is currently available to vendors with a Department of Defense common access card. Public access will become available soon through Login.gov, according to the department.
Project Gatekeeper allows commercial developers to submit software code and containerized applications for security evaluations in isolated testing environments. The Army said the system can reduce evaluation cycles from months to minutes. The process previously took six to eight months or longer for some vendors.
“The concept behind Project Gatekeeper is to set industry up for success to engage with the Army rapidly and securely,” Gabe Chiulli, acting Army chief information officer, said in an Oct. 25 press release.
“Historically, companies had to navigate disparate, ad-hoc mechanisms simply to get their code evaluated,” Chiulli said.
Project Gatekeeper operates through the Army’s DevSecOps Platform, which provides a dedicated commercial-facing connection to the service’s non-classified network environment.
The system automatically scans submitted code for vulnerabilities, checks compliance with security requirements, and provides developers with near-real-time feedback and remediation guidance.
It also generates standardized compliance documentation to help Army officials make risk-informed authority to operate decisions, reducing the manual paperwork traditionally associated with software accreditation.
The Army said the platform addresses longstanding barriers facing commercial software providers, particularly small technology startups and companies without existing defense contracts.
“Our warfighters are digital natives who expect modern software capabilities to support their mission,” Chiulli said. “Project Gatekeeper establishes the automated foundation required to scale with the speed of commercial technology, ensuring our troops receive cutting-edge tools safely and without unnecessary administrative delays.”
Army Taps AWS, WWT for AI-Enabled Cyber Defense
In a separate move to accelerate its adoption of commercial technology, the Army announced on Oct. 26 that it selected Amazon Web Services (AWS) and World Wide Technology (WWT) for a combined $2.6 million pilot effort under Project Griffin, an initiative aimed at advancing artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled cyber defense capabilities.
Project Griffin is one of three accelerated efforts under the Army Rapid Defensive of Cyber Systems (Project ARDS) initiative. The effort aims to develop an autonomous, agentic AI platform that can help Army cyber defenders identify and neutralize threats faster while reducing vulnerabilities associated with manual data analysis and human intervention.
The Trump administration recently began referring to AI as “super intelligence,” or “SI,” and President Trump directed the executive branch to use the new terminology in official documents and communications.
“Project Griffin is one of the first efforts under Project ARDS, which is advancing the Army’s adoption of SI-enabled cyber defense capabilities through rapid sprints in conjunction with industry partners,” Brandon Pugh, principal cyber advisor to the secretary of the Army, said. “We will swiftly implement SI-enabled cyber tools to detect, divert and deceive threat actors, and rapidly adopt agentic SI to securely scale network defense and disruption.”