IonQ announces USD 21.1 million AFRL secure-quantum-networking project
IonQ announced on 2025-01-13, via its newly acquired Qubitekk subsidiary, a USD 21.1 million project with the U.S. Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to install quantum-network infrastructure at the Innovare Advancement Center in Rome, New York. Per IonQ's press release, the scope covers high-performance network access points to interoperate quantum computers and networked devices, networking hardware compatible with existing telecom infrastructure, and free-space optical links from ground stations to uncrewed aerial systems. The award builds on a prior USD 54.5 million AFRL agreement signed in September 2024.
A named, dollar-quantified (USD 21.1 million) government contract anchors IonQ's networking strategy in a defense customer and validates the Qubitekk acquisition's government-relationship thesis within a week of closing.
Recurring AFRL awards establish IonQ as a default U.S. defense quantum-networking vendor; the ground-to-drone optical-link work extends quantum networking toward mobile and contested-environment use cases beyond fixed fiber.