IonQ and Sandia Laboratories to Develop Quantum Technologies for National Security

IonQ Inc. (NYSE: IONQ) partnered with Sandia National Laboratories to develop technologies and hardware for various national security applications.

Together, the quantum computing hardware giant and the national nuclear security laboratory will be designing quantum technologies for the United States military. All work will be conducted at Sandia’s newest quantum-dedicated facility in New Mexico.

This news comes amid a resurgence in public-private collaboration across the defense sector. By involving Sandia Laboratories at the design stage, IonQ secured government involvement early on, since Sandia evaluates and benchmarks quantum hardware for the federal government. This partnership removes a plethora of technical hurdles for IonQ’s potential bids on defense contracts.

On Wednesday, IonQ announced its advancement to the final stage of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Quantum Benchmarking Initiative, one of the first companies to get there. The evaluation program measures whether a quantum computer can scale enough to be worth its cost—with Sandia, a federal benchmarking lab, now on board as a partner, IonQ finds itself in a very good position.

Building for scale, the quantum giant is attempting to carve out its niche in a multi-trillion-dollar defense supply chain.

“Big breakthroughs often happen when government and industry work together, from the Manhattan Project to the Space Race,” said IonQ Chairman and CEO Niccolo de Masi.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by both parties covers a very broad range of quantum capabilities development for mission-critical operations—specifically, military applications. The specific terms of work remain open-ended, allowing both parties to modify projects over time.

This partnership gives IonQ government credibility right when it matters most—as the company prepares to bid on projects under the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s $151 billion SHIELD contract. If it is selected for the SHIELD contract, IonQ will work on critical orders, including integrating quantum computing into missile trajectory calculations.

The MOU is another step in IonQ’s recent expansion—including acquiring SkyWater Technology for semiconductor manufacturing, opening a Colorado facility for ion traps, and partnering with the Air Force Research Laboratory—and with its latest partner being a national regulator, the quantum manufacturer is setting itself up for immense scalability.

So far, IonQ’s strategy of embedding its product straight into government contracts instead of relying on the commercial market has paid off. With a $17 billion valuation, IonQ only further strengthens itself by bringing in Sandia Labs, especially as investors increasingly view government validation as key to a company’s long-term survival.

On a recent investor call following the MOU, de Masi tied this federal integration back to the White House’s executive orders on quantum.

“I think we are the only quantum company in the world that can say we actually embody all aspects of both executive orders in their totality,” he said, “our strategy aligns directly with the federal mandate.”