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Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) 2026 Announcement

Open — responses due 30 Dec 2026 (47 days left) · Unrestricted (full and open) · Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), DoD · NAICS 541715 · Solicitation DARPA-PA-26-02

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Solicitation details

Solicitation numberDARPA-PA-26-02
Notice ID56606fabc12b49bcb35372128e7cc26d
AgencyDepartment of Defense (DoD)
Sub-agencyDefense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
Contracting officeDEF ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGCY
NAICS code541715 — Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (Except Nanotechnology and Biotechnology)
Product / service code (PSC)AC12
Set-asideUnrestricted (full and open)
Notice typeSolicitation
Posted29 July 2026
Response deadline30 December 2026
CompetitionCompetitive

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What is being bought

Innovative research approaches for developing and verifying utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computers.

  • Designing utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer concepts
  • Developing computational workflows for quantum compute steps
  • Revolutionary advances in design, engineering, test, and evaluation of systems
  • Third-party verification and validation of quantum computing approaches
  • Development of quantum computer testing and evaluation tools

Competition

Full and open competition — no set-aside restrictions; any responsible offeror may bid.

Deal-breakers

  • Proposals must only be submitted in response to a QBIT. Proposals submitted directly to this PA will not be considered.
    “Proposals must only be submitted in response to a QBIT. Proposals submitted directly to this PA will not be considered.” — p. 3
  • Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) https://sam.gov/ at time of proposal submission and must maintain an active registration for ‘All Awards’ throughout the life of any resulting award.
    “Offerors must be registered in the System for Award Management (SAM) https://sam.gov/ at time of proposal submission” — p. 8

Key risk

  • Offerors must register in Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF) prior to award to submit electronic invoices for payment.
    “Offerors will be required to submit invoices for payment electronically via Wide Area Work Flow (WAWF)” — p. 8
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  • Your fit score and a prime-or-sub recommendation for your company
  • All 3 documents in the package, downloadable as one ZIP
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Description

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) seeks innovative approaches to address challenges related to quantum computing. The Quantum Benchmarking Initiative (QBI) aims to examine approaches for constructing a utility-scale fault-tolerant quantum computer and computational workflows that include quantum compute steps. Proposed research should investigate approaches that enable revolutionary advances in design, engineering, test, and evaluation of such systems. Specifically excluded is research that primarily results in evolutionary improvements to the existing state of practice. To rapidly capitalize on new opportunities, DARPA announces the QBI 2026 opportunity, which seeks specific solutions to targeted challenges related to developing utility-scale quantum computers, as defined in specific QBI topic (QBIT) calls. Each QBIT will (1) outline specific details regarding the research topic of interest and (2) provide proposal and submission instructions, including the due date for proposal submission, in addition to those outlined in this PA. Proposals must only be submitted in response to a QBIT. Proposals submitted directly to this PA will not be considered.

Version history

SAM.gov has posted 2 notices under solicitation DARPA-PA-26-02, oldest first.

Documents in the solicitation package

3 files are attached to this notice.

  • DARPA-PA-26-02-Amendment-01.pdf
  • DARPA-PA-26-02.pdf
  • QBI_CUI_Guide.pdf

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Market context: DoD and NAICS 541715

About the buyer and the industry, not this specific solicitation. Source: USASpending.gov award data, updated nightly.

  • In fiscal year 2026, DoD obligated $10.1B across 5,114 contract actions under NAICS 541715.
  • 4,053 contracts worth $40.4B in this category end within the next 18 months.

DoD contracts under NAICS 541715 →

Other open solicitations in NAICS 541715

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Source: this notice on SAM.gov. FedSift republishes public federal procurement data and is not affiliated with the U.S. Government. Always confirm dates and requirements against SAM.gov before responding.

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Source data: SAM.gov (solicitations) and USASpending.gov (awards), refreshed nightly. FedSift is not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

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