Data AnalysisVerified

Reviewed and published by trentmaziarz, April 25, 2026. Discovered and drafted by our automated research pipeline.

The Department of War deployed the Maven Smart System (MSS), an AI platform built by Palantir, to analyze data from drones, satellites, radar, and other sensors to identify objects and potential targets and support battlefield decision-making. The program traces its roots to Project Maven, launched in 2017; Palantir became the primary contractor under a May 2024 contract. As of 2026, the Pentagon is expanding MSS department-wide as a formal program of record.

Details

Maven Smart System grew out of Project Maven, launched in 2017, which initially applied computer vision to analyze drone footage. The system processes inputs including satellite imagery, full-motion video, geolocation data, and radar to detect, classify, and track objects and personnel of interest, and surfaces potential targets to human analysts for review. It also includes an AI Asset Tasking Recommender that can suggest which weapons should be assigned to which targets, with human officers retaining final authority. In April 2026, the Pentagon requested $2.3 billion over five years to expand Maven, and the system has been described as the Department's primary battlefield command-and-control, targeting, and situational awareness platform.

Products affected

Maven Smart SystemProject Maven

Sources & Evidence

News Article

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Maven

News Article

https://gizmodo.com/google-is-helping-the-pentagon-build-ai-for-drones-1823464533

News Article

https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/pentagon-formalizes-palantirs-maven-ai-as-a-core-military-system-with-multi-year-funding-platforms-investment-grows-to-usd13-billion-from-usd480-million-in-2024

News Article

https://defensescoop.com/2025/05/23/dod-palantir-maven-smart-system-contract-increase/

News Article

Pentagon seeks $2.3 billion for Maven AI battlefield system

SpaceNews·Apr 2026

https://spacenews.com/pentagon-seeks-2-3-billion-for-maven-ai-battlefield-system/

News Article

DOD components face 'aggressive' timeline for Maven Smart System transition

DefenseScoop·Apr 2026

https://defensescoop.com/2026/04/15/palantir-maven-smart-system-pentagon-program-transition-feinberg/

News Article

Pentagon Expands Use of Palantir AI in New Defense Contract

Military.com·Mar 2026

https://www.military.com/feature/2026/03/22/pentagon-expands-palantirs-role-ai-contract.html

News Article

AI Warfare Becomes Real for US Military With Project Maven

Bloomberg·Feb 2024

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2024-ai-warfare-project-maven/

Cite this record

Trace Foundation. (2026). U.S. Department of War: The Department of War deployed the Maven Smart System (MSS), an AI platform built by Palantir, to analyze data from drones, satellites, radar, and other sensors to identify objects and potential targets and support battlefield decision-making. The program traces its roots to Project Maven, launched in 2017; Palantir became the primary contractor under a May 2024 contract. As of 2026, the Pentagon is expanding MSS department-wide as a formal program of record (data as of 2026-04-25) [Data set record]. AI Trace. https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/4f585a0f-f1bd-4f4b-b69c-683c26465a5a. Accessed September 11, 2026.

Stable link: https://www.aitrace.org/r/practice/4f585a0f-f1bd-4f4b-b69c-683c26465a5a
Data as of: April 25, 2026
Last verified: April 25, 2026

How to cite AI Trace

Other practices by U.S. Department of War

OtherThe Department of War integrated OpenAI's AI models into classified military networks under an agreement reached in February 2026, allowing the use of advanced AI for both warfighting and enterprise tasks in secure, cloud-based classified environments. The agreement includes contractual limits prohibiting use for mass domestic surveillance or directing autonomous weapons systems.OtherThe Department of War announced an Artificial Intelligence Acceleration Strategy on January 9, 2026, directing the department to develop AI agents for battle management and decision support, mandate federated data access for AI systems, and require that the latest commercial AI models be made available within 30 days of public release. By April 2026, DoW personnel had used GenAI.mil's Agent Designer tool to build over 100,000 agents for unclassified administrative tasks, while the strategy's Agent Network initiative continues to direct AI agent development for battle management and decision support.ProductivityThe Department of War deployed GenAI.mil, a secure enterprise-wide generative AI platform, to roughly 3 million military personnel, civilian employees, and contractors on December 9, 2025. The platform launched with Google's Gemini for Government and expanded over the following months to include xAI's Grok and OpenAI's ChatGPT, supporting day-to-day work tasks such as drafting documents, summarizing reports, and conducting research.

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