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By LTC Steven Howard, U.S. Army (Ret.)
Contributor, InCyberDefense
The Department of Defense has been working on a cloud concept called the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI). This cloud would store the U.S. military’s most critical classified data, including nuclear weapon secrets.
The government is expected to bid out the contract this week. According to NextGov, many experts believe that Amazon Web Services will win the JEDI contract.
Not long ago, Amazon Web Services developed a cloud solution for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) at a cost of approximately $600 million. JEDI, however, could be worth $10 billion over 10 years.
What Information Will Be Stored in the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud?
What will JEDI store? According to Defense Department spokeswoman Heather Babb, “JEDI cloud services will be offered at all classification levels.”
“All levels” suggests that JEDI will be able to host information about America’s deployment and utilization of its nuclear weapons.
JEDI Contract to be Awarded This Fall
The Department of Defense plans to award the contract in September. It will begin classified data migrations in 2019.
In addition to Amazon, other IT companies like Google, Microsoft, IBM, Oracle and General Dynamics have all expressed interest in JEDI. Of the companies, Google outspent the others with $18 million in federal lobbying in 2017.