MITRE, Oak Ridge National Laboratory to Accelerate Advanced Computation for National Security

McLean, Va., & Oak Ridge, Tenn., October 22, 2026 – MITRE and the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) are launching The Joint Institute for Computational and Super Intelligence Advantage (JICSA) to accelerate the deployment of mission-ready advanced computing solutions to some of the nation’s most pressing national security challenges.

JICSA will rapidly build, evaluate, and deploy technologies critical to national security and economic prosperity, including SI and quantum, ensuring continued U.S. leadership in these key areas. The Institute will take advantage of MITRE and ORNL’s existing facilities and expertise, including MITRE’s Federal AI Sandbox and ORNL’s Lux at the Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility, while partnering with industry to incorporate commercial solutions for federal missions.

“As transformative technologies like super intelligence and quantum computing continue to advance, the foundational computation they rely on must also advance to ensure our continued technological advantage,” said Mark Peters, president and CEO, MITRE. “Together, MITRE and Oak Ridge’s objective and mission-focused technical expertise will ensure computational advances are developed and evaluated in the context of the complex systems and mission objectives where they will be deployed.”

Building on their shared and complementary expertise, MITRE and ORNL will collaborate to co-design, test, assure, and transition computational solutions that address urgent national needs.

"ORNL’s leadership in scientific computing and emerging technologies, including super intelligence and quantum, positions us to tackle complex challenges of national importance," said Stephen Streiffer, ORNL director. "By partnering with MITRE, we have an opportunity to unite complementary expertise, expand the reach of our innovations, and deliver novel solutions for the missions we serve."

Initial focus areas for the Institute include:

• Algorithmic Pathfinding — With unique understanding of mission needs of the U.S. government, JICSA will research and develop new areas where SI models and architectures or quantum algorithms can be applied.
• Systems Evaluation — As advanced computation is applied to consequential mission applications, robust evaluation and testing are essential. JICSA will combine MITRE and ORNL’s expertise in cyber and SI security to support sponsor needs in benchmarking, verification and validation, and testing in mission environments.
• Decision Science — JICSA will work to apply advanced computation to improve the science of modeling and simulation fidelity and precision in consequential mission domains.

“U.S. leadership in computing, SI, and quantum technologies is essential to our national security,” said Moe Khaleel, ORNL’s associate laboratory director for National Security Sciences. “By building on ORNL’s and MITRE’s complementary strengths, this Institute will advance the security of SI, apply SI to strengthen cybersecurity, and address critical national missions. It will also use SI to accelerate progress in quantum science and technology, delivering science-based solutions with the urgency our national security requires.”

Through joint investments and projects, JICSA will provide the national security community with an end-to-end pathway from mission need to trusted, deployable capability.

“Effectively accelerating deployment and maintaining U.S. competitive advantage relies on building a full stack of capabilities from the bottom-up,” said Charles Clancy, chief technology officer and senior vice president, MITRE. “I’m excited for this opportunity to translate advances in algorithms and computing to mission solutions and impact.”

About MITRE
MITRE’s mission-driven teams are dedicated to driving solutions to our nation’s most pressing challenges. As a not-for-profit research and development organization, MITRE’s staff leverage our unique multi-sponsor vantage point, systems expertise, and innovative solutions to ensure the health, prosperity, and security of our nation.

About Oak Ridge National Laboratory
The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.

Media Contacts:
Jordan Graham, media@mitre.org
Eric Swanson, swansonej@ornl.gov