Eight small businesses won cash prizes in the Army’s quantum and photonics competition and may submit proposals worth up to $300,000 each for feasibility work.
By Land Offset PAI
Sept. 13, 2026
PHOENIX — The Army has named eight small businesses as winners of its xTech|Phantum competition after a July finals event in Phoenix, giving each company an opportunity to submit a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research proposal valued at up to $300,000, according to Army records. 2 3
The finalists convened July 21-24 at the Southwest Mission Acceleration Center, known as SWMAC. The Army said eight winners were selected from 16 finalists and shared $200,000 in cash prizes. 2 A Sept. 12 LinkedIn post by Army PIT separately described the event and the eight winners. 1
The winners are Mesa Quantum Systems, TECHNERGETICS LLC, Lunewave Inc., Rhea Space Activity, 8Seven8, LinQ Photonics, Brightlight Photonics and Polaris Semiconductor. Their entries include technologies for navigation without GPS, quantum sensing, radio-frequency sensing and free-space optical communications. 2 3
The competition was open to eligible small U.S. businesses and covered four areas: quantum sensors and clocks for position, navigation and timing; quantum radio-frequency sensors; quantum electromagnetic sensors; and photonics. The Army’s competition record states that winners — not every finalist — could submit the Phase I proposals, which were scheduled for Aug. 10-28. 3 The record describes the potential awards as proof-of-concept work of no more than six months; it does not establish that any winner received an SBIR award or that the technologies have been fielded. 3
The Army said xTech|Phantum was designed to identify and mature commercial technologies relevant to national security. That objective aligns with Executive Order 14413, which directs the Defense Department to prioritize at least three next-generation quantum-sensor projects for fielding by Sept. 30, 2028, and calls for work on quantum-sensing and networking applications. 2 4
The relationship is a policy and acquisition pathway, not evidence of deployment. Selection in a prize competition and eligibility to submit an SBIR proposal are distinct from a contract award, operational testing or fielding. The Army’s announcement did not provide award decisions for the subsequent SBIR proposals. 2 3