How Infleqtion Became a Component Supplier to Lockheed and Boeing: The Prime Integration Backdoor Strategy

How Infleqtion Became a Component Supplier to Lockheed and Boeing: The Prime Integration Backdoor Strategy

You can spend three years coordinating Pentagon specs and Congressional appropriations to become the Navy’s standard clock. Or you can become the clock inside Lockheed’s positioning system that the Navy already buys.

“We could try to just get in to become the timing aspect of that, which is a little bit of a lower lift,” Matthew Kinsella, CEO of Infleqtion, explains. Understanding when to pursue prime integration versus programs of record—and how the strategic calculus differs—separates defense tech companies that achieve near-term revenue from those that stall waiting for multi-year procurement cycles.

In a recent episode of Category Visionaries, Matthew walked through Infleqtion’s parallel path strategy. They’re pursuing programs of record—the long political process. But simultaneously, they’re working to become critical infrastructure inside systems that defense primes already sell to the military.

The Time-Value Tradeoff

Programs of record represent ultimate scale. When you become the Navy’s clock, you’ve achieved autopilot revenue. “Once you get the government as a customer, they can be kind of on autopilot for a long time.”

But getting there requires what Matthew calls “a multi pronged sort of pincer movement”—working Pentagon specs and Congressional appropriations simultaneously. It’s measured in years.

Prime integration offers different value. You’re becoming a component inside systems the military already procures. Timeline compresses. Stakeholder complexity reduces. But so does scale.

The calculus: faster revenue at smaller scale versus slower revenue at massive scale. Most defense tech companies optimize for one. Infleqtion pursues both.

Why Primes Need You

Defense primes like Lockheed and Boeing constantly upgrade systems to maintain competitive advantage in bids. When a prime bids on a Navy contract, they’re competing against other primes also upgrading their offerings.

If your quantum clock enables GPS-denied navigation that competing systems can’t match, you’re selling competitive differentiation for the prime’s bid.

This shifts the sales dynamic. You’re navigating commercial procurement at large companies—a motion most tech founders understand. There are buyers, budgets, and RFPs. It’s complex, but it’s not the two-front war of programs of record.

Matthew describes it simply: becoming a component supplier is “a little bit of a lower lift” than becoming the direct supplier to military branches. You’re dealing with one concentrated relationship instead of coordinating Pentagon and Congress.

The Integration Challenge

“Lower lift” doesn’t mean easy. Matthew is explicit: “You still need to convince prime buyers to swap out existing components.”

Defense primes don’t change suppliers casually. Their existing systems work. They have qualified suppliers, tested integration points, and certification processes. Asking them to swap timing components means re-testing, re-certifying, and taking on integration risk.

This is where technical superiority matters differently. With programs of record, you’re framing strategic advantage in conflict scenarios. With prime integration, you’re proving your component makes their system better enough to justify the integration effort.

The value proposition needs to be clear: your component enables capabilities their system can’t deliver, reduces costs, or improves competitive position in bids. Preferably all three.

For Infleqtion, the value is capability enablement. Their quantum clocks enable GPS-denied navigation that existing timing systems can’t support. That’s not incremental improvement—it’s a new capability that changes what the prime’s positioning system can do.

The Parallel Path Strategy

Here’s what most founders miss: prime integration and programs of record aren’t mutually exclusive. They’re complementary.

When Infleqtion becomes the timing component in a Lockheed positioning system that the Navy buys, they’re building proof points. They’re demonstrating that military branches actually use their technology operationally. They’re creating installed base and user references.

This strengthens the eventual program of record case. When arguing they should become the Navy’s standard clock, they can point to Lockheed systems already deployed with Navy forces. The conversation shifts from “will this work?” to “expand what’s already working.”

Meanwhile, the Pentagon specifications work for programs of record informs what primes need. When program officers tell Infleqtion what specs matter for military applications, that intelligence helps sell to primes building systems for those applications.

Matthew describes Infleqtion as “squarely a dual use company.” But within defense, they’re pursuing a triple path: SBIRs building relationships, programs of record targeting long-term scale, and prime integration delivering near-term revenue.

The Revenue Timeline Logic

Understanding when revenue hits from each path clarifies why the parallel strategy matters:

SBIRs deliver fastest—$100K to $2M contracts that can close in months. They’re relationship infrastructure, not business model.

Prime integration delivers next—potentially within 12-24 months if you have technical validation. Contracts are meaningful but bounded by the prime’s business.

Programs of record deliver slowest but largest—potentially years to first contract, but once established they run “on autopilot for a long time” with recurring revenue at scale.

If you only pursue programs of record, you’re burning cash for years. If you only pursue prime integration, you cap your addressable market. If you pursue both, you fund the company through the long cycle while building proof points.

When Prime Integration Makes Sense

The decision isn’t “prime integration or programs of record?” It’s “which first, and how do they support each other?”

Prime integration makes sense early when:

• You have technical validation but not military deployment proof
• You need revenue in 12-24 months to extend runway
• Your technology is modular enough to integrate into existing systems
• Primes are actively upgrading systems in your category

Programs of record make sense to pursue simultaneously when:

• You’re building SBIR relationships with program officers
• You have a clear path to Congressional support
• You can fund the multi-year sales cycle (potentially via prime integration revenue)

The companies that win don’t choose between paths. They pursue the combination that funds the company while building toward maximum scale.

The Strategic Patience

Matthew’s framing reveals a founder thinking in parallel timelines: “We could try to just get in to become the timing aspect of that, which is a little bit of a lower lift.”

“Could try” suggests optionality. “A little bit of a lower lift” suggests comparison to the harder path. This isn’t prime integration instead of programs of record. It’s prime integration as one component of a multi-path strategy.

For founders building defense tech: understand all available paths to revenue, evaluate their timeline and scale characteristics, and pursue the combination that keeps you funded through the longest sales cycles. Prime integration isn’t a shortcut—it’s a complementary strategy that delivers near-term proof while you play the long game.