The Defense Intelligence Agency’s artificial intelligence-powered intel database on foreign militaries will soon be authorized to run on the Pentagon’s classified network.
The Machine-assisted Analytic Rapid-repository System, a.k.a. MARS, is scheduled to become fully operational in 2026 and is designed to introduce new security strategies, Defense One reported Thursday.
At an Intelligence and National Security Alliance online event on Tuesday, DIA Chief Information Officer Doug Cossa said that MARS will be on the Secret Internet Protocol Router Network “within the next few weeks.”
Cossa added that moving MARS to the SIPRNet will make it more accessible, noting that the repository will be deployed in one area and secure access will be managed through entitlements for users and devices.
He noted that MARS will allow the intelligence and defense communities to establish a common operating picture that employs each other’s data authoritatively.
According to Randy Resnick, a 2024 Wash100 Award winner and head of the Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office at the DOD, pilots will be conducted in 2026 to test how MARS will operate and comply with an advanced zero trust level.
The DIA launched MARS in 2018 as a replacement for the Modernized Integrated Database, the Department of Defense’s main repository for information gathered on other countries’ militaries and infrastructure.
Since its introduction, MARS has received significant upgrades, such as new tools and AI capabilities.
