The security technical implementation guide for mobile devices using Apple?s iOS6 operating system has been approved, Defense Information Systems Agency officials announced on Friday. This means that government-issued iOS6 mobile devices are approved for use when connecting to Defense Department networks within current mobility pilots or the future mobile device management framework, officials said.

Approval of Apple's devices comes two weeks after the Pentagon approved BlackBerry and Samsung Knox operating systems for military use.

In announcing the latest approval, DISA officials said a key objective of the Commercial Mobile Device Implementation Plan is to establish a departmentwide mobile enterprise solution that permits the use of the latest commercial technology -- such as smartphones and tablets -- and the development of an enterprise mobile device management capability and application store to support about 100,000 devices from multiple vendors by February.

The Defense Department has more than 600,000 commercial mobile devices in operational and pilot use, including about 470,000 BlackBerrys, 41,000 Apple operating system devices and 8,700 Android operating system devices.