Amazon Web Services (AWS) unveiled a new managed cloud service for private-sector organizations authorized to handle classified information. The new service allows cleared U.S. defense contractors to run contractor-owned classified workloads directly on AWS for the first time.
Dave Levy, vice president of Amazon Web Services Worldwide Public Sector, announced AWS Secret Cloud for Industry (ASCI) on June 30 during the AWS Summit in Washington, D.C..
He said the offering follows a multi-year collaboration with the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA).
“For the first time, defense industrial-based partners can access the same AWS Secret Cloud regions used by the Department of War with the full cloud, with full classified workload capabilities, and the services they already know,” Levy said during the summit.
Under the Trump administration, the DOD was rebranded as the Department of War.
According to AWS officials, AWS Secret Cloud for Industry holds a Provisional Authorization at Impact Level 6 from DISA, meeting the authorization standard for Secret-classified information. The company said the service uses the same DCSA compliance framework that cleared defense contractors already use for on-premises classified systems.
ASCI is available for U.S. defense contractors, research institutions, and other organizations in the National Industrial Security Program.
Northrop Grumman became the first defense contractor to deploy classified workloads on ASCI after completing the authorization and onboarding process, Levy said.
AWS also announced the ASCI Accelerator Initiative, which will provide up to $20 million in credits to qualified defense industrial base contractors, federally funded research and development centers, independent software vendors, and system integrators. The company said the credits are intended to help qualified organizations migrate classified workloads to the cloud and accelerate delivery of advanced defense capabilities.
“AWS Secret Cloud for Industry gives defense industrial-based partners their own tenancy within the AWS Secret region, the same services and security without the need to build or maintain classified infrastructure, and to accelerate adoption, we’re committing up to $20 million in credits over three years, so defense partners can get on the program, validate their classified workloads, and move to production,” Levy said.
Levy also announced the Intelligence Community Accelerated Modernization Framework, a separate AWS initiative that commits up to $1 billion in cloud credits through October 2030 for qualified workloads migrating to AWS under the company’s existing contract with the U.S. intelligence community.