American technology giant Amazon will establish a “top-secret” data cloud to store classified Australian military and intelligence information under a $2 billion partnership with the federal government.

Three highly secure data centres will be built in secret locations across the country to support the purpose-built Top Secret (TS) Cloud which will be run by a local subsidiary of Amazon Web Services (AWS).

The massive new project is expected to harness cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology and scheduled to be in operation by 2027, with the government insisting Australia will have complete sovereignty over the cloud.

Similar data clouds have already been established in the US and UK allowing the sharing of “vast amounts of information”, with intelligence figures highlighting that potential adversaries were also investing heavily in similar technology.

Initially, the government will invest at least $2 billion into the project being run by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and AWS, but it’s expected to cost billions more in operating costs over the coming years.

Details of the massive project were first revealed in a speech to an American audience last year by the director-general of national intelligence Andrew Shearer, who emphasised the benefits it presented for collaboration for partner nations.