IonQ Receives $7.5 Million AFRL Follow-On Quantum Network Award

IonQ announced on 2026年10月27日 that it has received $7.5 million in follow-on funding from the Air Force Research Laboratory to expand the first-generation quantum network the company previously delivered in Rome, New York. The Phase 2 contract adds optical, hardware, and software layers to the deployment, which IonQ said is intended to turn it into an operational, interoperable research platform.

The company stated that the award was contemplated within the $21.1 million collaboration it originally announced on 2025年1月13日, and is not a supplemental award. Under the phased structure, Phase 1 established the core physical network foundation. Phase 2 equips AFRL with additional capabilities needed to connect different types of quantum hardware across non-laboratory environments, according to the company.

IonQ compared the approach to classical internet routing: routers and fiber-optic cables allow different computers to share data across the internet, and the company said the new full-stack enhancements similarly allow connectivity of distinct quantum systems and route quantum communication over standard telecommunications infrastructure and open air.

Phase 2 Upgrades

The company said the Phase 2 funding introduces hardware and software upgrades designed for real-world metropolitan and defense networks:

• Free-space optical links: an optical system with automatic pointing, acquisition, and tracking (PAT) to establish entanglement distribution over secure, line-of-sight quantum channels within the C-band spectrum.
• Quantum frequency converters: two quantum frequency converter modules intended to deliver interoperability across heterogeneous quantum and classical hardware using standard telecom wavelength infrastructure.
• Automated control software: on-premises control-plane software upgrades supporting automated self-tests, real-time monitoring, failure handling, experiment execution, and automated results export.
• Upgraded hardware modules: O-band-compatible network hardware, enhanced polarization controls, and upgraded quantum network interface cards (QNICs).

“This follow-on funding from AFRL underscores the strength of our long-term partnership and validates IonQ’s full-stack approach. We are unlocking new domains for quantum networking by going to free space optics,” said Jordan Shapiro, IonQ’s president of quantum platform. “Advanced optical hardware and automated control software are what close the gap between laboratory demonstration and field deployment. We are building quantum networking that runs on standard telecom infrastructure and through open air, and proving it on a live network.”

IonQ said the enhancements support AFRL’s broader roadmap for heterogeneous quantum networking, offering what the company called a practical and deployable model for future defense communications, enterprise infrastructure, and multi-node quantum networks. The company stated the work builds on its photonics interconnect milestone in 2026年4月 and on the deployment of an onsite IonQ quantum computing system at AFRL in Rome, New York.

Prior AFRL Collaboration

The original $21.1 million project was structured through Qubitekk, Inc., following IonQ’s recent acquisition of Qubitekk, which the company said extended its networking expertise. The project called for IonQ to work with AFRL to install quantum network infrastructure at the Innovare Advancement Center in Rome, New York, supporting AFRL’s Quantum Information Science & Technology Branch at the Information Directorate and its quantum networking and computing research.

Under that effort, IonQ committed to develop a network with high-performing access points to drive the interoperability of quantum computers and networked devices, to deliver networking hardware expanding compatibility with existing telecommunication infrastructure, and to collaborate with AFRL on establishing free-space optical links from ground stations to uncrewed aerial systems.

The 2025年1月 announcement said the project built on recent contracts, including a $54.5 million agreement signed with AFRL in 2024年9月 and a contract with the Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security to design a networked blind quantum computing system.

Between the original award and the Phase 2 funding, IonQ reported additional AFRL-supported milestones. On 2025年9月23日, the company announced it had demonstrated the frequency conversion of photons from the visible wavelengths used to interface with trapped barium ions into telecom wavelengths on a prototype system, with research support from AFRL. IonQ said the ability to transform visible light into telecom wavelengths is essential for transmitting quantum information efficiently over long-haul fiber-optic cables. “Working closely with AFRL, we are the first quantum company to demonstrate the ability to convert visible signals to telecom wavelengths,” said Niccolo de Masi, IonQ’s chairman and chief executive. That announcement followed IonQ’s delivery and commissioning of the first trapped-ion quantum computer with an integrated photonic interface at AFRL’s Rome, New York site.

On 2026年4月14日, IonQ announced it had photonically interconnected two independent trapped-ion quantum systems in a joint project with AFRL, a result the company described as the first demonstration of connected, commercial quantum computers. IonQ stated the research was funded in part by the U.S. government through an agreement with AFRL. The laboratory is the primary scientific research and development center for the Department of the Air Force.