WASHINGTON — As U.S. and Israeli forces have unleashed more than 11,000 strikes on Iranian targets since late February 2026, Palantir Technologies' artificial intelligence systems have emerged as a central tool in the Pentagon's targeting operations, compressing what military planners call the "kill chain" from days to minutes and enabling a tempo of attacks unprecedented in modern warfare.
The company's Maven Smart System, an evolution of the Pentagon's long-running Project Maven initiative, integrates vast streams of satellite imagery, drone footage, signals intelligence and other classified data to identify, prioritize and recommend strike packages against Iranian military sites, nuclear facilities and leadership targets. Palantir executives have described the ongoing campaign as the first large-scale conflict substantially enhanced by AI, a claim that has drawn both praise for operational efficiency and sharp criticism over risks to civilians.
