Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been selected to provide cloud computing services to the United States Air Force under a contract valued at $581.3 million. The award, announced in an official notice dated January 26, will run until December 7, 2028, and is part of Cloud One, the Air Force’s cloud program.
The contract documentation states that the work will be performed at the contractor-designated facilities distributed across the continental United States. The same announcement lists the contractor as the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, based at Hanscom Air Force Base (Massachusetts). This is a common detail in such publications, where the management center acts as the administrative and oversight entity for the agreement.
The contract reinforces AWS’s position in one of the most sensitive and strategic niches of the cloud market: U.S. government management, especially in environments with high security requirements and operation at multiple classification levels.
A move within Cloud One, the Air Force’s private cloud
The award is made under Cloud One, described as the Air Force’s specific cloud platform, separate from the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) program. This separation is significant: the Department of Defense’s cloud ecosystem has been layered and segmented by different programs and scopes, with Cloud One serving as a dedicated pillar for the Air Force, while JWCC functions as a broader initiative.
In 2022, Cloud One was described by the then Air Force CIO, Lauren Knausenberger, as an $800 million service built on AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, with Oracle expected to join “soon.” The explanation emphasized that the platform is available not only to the Air Force but also to other areas of the Department of Defense. The initial phase of the program concluded in 2024, with the current expansion aiming for renewed and scaled contracts to support growing cloud usage.
Second major contract of the month: Microsoft also involved
AWS’s contract is not standalone. The announcement highlights that this is the second agreement awarded this month within the Cloud One framework. Days earlier, Microsoft secured a contract worth $170.4 million, also ending in December 2028.
From a market perspective, the timing and distribution of awards suggest a clear strategy: the Air Force is establishing a multi-vendor cloud environment, with different awards supporting sustained projects and workloads rather than pilots or experiments based solely on value and timeline.
Military cloud and the “capacity” factor: why the 2028 deadline matters
The extension through late 2028 offers predictability in an environment where operational continuity is as critical as innovation. In defense, migrating or deploying cloud services involves complex processes: regulatory compliance, audits, security controls, integration with legacy systems, and in many cases, requirements that vary depending on the information’s classification level.
Therefore, beyond the dollar amount, the contract is viewed as a mechanism to secure stable capacity over several years, enabling the Air Force to plan upgrades and deployments with reduced uncertainty.
AWS’s parallel investment: $50 billion for classified cloud and supercomputing
The contract is also contextualized alongside another significant announcement: by the end of 2024, AWS announced plans to invest $50 billion to expand its Artificial Intelligence and supercomputing capabilities for U.S. government clients.
According to that announcement, AWS expects to begin construction in 2026 and add nearly 1.3 GW of computing capacity across its AWS Top Secret, AWS Secret, and AWS GovCloud (US) regions, covering all classification levels through new data centers. The message is that cloud infrastructure for the public sector—especially classified cloud—is increasingly focused on physical infrastructure: data centers, available energy, and sustained compute capacity.
Within this context, a contract like Cloud One’s is not just about paying for services; it fits into a broader cycle where hyperscalers compete to demonstrate they can scale according to government demands, with guaranteed security and continuity.
A strategic race among providers amid the AI wave
The sequence of contracts awarded to AWS and Microsoft within Cloud One, combined with multimillion-dollar investments in AI and supercomputing capacity, reflects the current market pulse: U.S. governmental cloud space is now a high-priority arena, where demand extends beyond storage and traditional virtualization into intensive workloads, automation, and AI-related functionalities.
While specific technical details of the contract remain limited, the broad picture is clear: the Air Force is renewing its cloud platform via multi-year agreements, while leading providers are scaling their infrastructure to meet the needs of sensitive environments, with a view toward the latter half of the decade.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cloud One, and how does it differ from the JWCC program?
Cloud One is the U.S. Air Force’s cloud platform, operating independently from the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) program, which has a different scope within the Department of Defense ecosystem.
What is the value of the contract awarded to AWS, and how long will it last?
The agreement is valued at $581.3 million and is valid until December 7, 2028.
Where will the work for the Cloud One contract be performed?
According to the official announcement, work will be carried out at the designated contractor facilities within the continental United States.
How does this contract relate to AWS’s investments in classified cloud and supercomputing?
AWS announced a $50 billion investment to expand AI and supercomputing capacity for government clients, including new data centers and nearly 1.3 GW of additional infrastructure in classified regions and GovCloud, aligning with increasing defense cloud demands.