Social networking giant Facebook is working on a new platform aimed squarely at Apple’s dominance of the exploding market for mobile applications, according to Techcrunch.

The new initiative, code-named “Project Spartan,” is based on the HTML5 standard, and will work on the mobile version of Apple’s Safari browser. (Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is a well-known classics buff.)

Facebook’s goal is “to use Apple’s own devices against them to break the stranglehold they have on mobile app distribution,” Techcrunch said, citing people “familiar with the project.”

The huge success of Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android market have created a massive ecosystem around mobile applications, which Facebook is clearly eying hungrily. Project Spartan, if successfully executed, could be a way for Facebook to become a distributor of mobile applications and games, effectively doing an end-run around Apple’s App store.

In a sense, Facebook wants to have its cake and eat it too: the company wants to leverage the massive popularity of the iPhone and the iPad, but do so on its terms, with a platform over which it can exert some measure of control.

Techcrunch reported that about 80 outside developers are currently working on “Project Spartan,” including companies like Zynga and the Huffington Post, and said that the initiative will eventually include Android. But for the moment, the initial target is iOS, the website said.

Facebook did not immediately return a request for comment.

Image: Spartan Warrior, via SAWg3rd/Wikipedia Commons