ASX tech stock Archtis Ltd (ASX: AR9) is off to the races today.

Shares in the company – which provides data-centric security solutions for the collaboration of sensitive information – closed yesterday trading for 6.9 cents. In morning trade on Wednesday, shares just leapt to 9.7 cents, putting the Archtis share price up 40.6%.

After some likely profit taking, in later morning trade shares are swapping hands for 8.3 cents apiece, up 20.3%.

For some context, the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is down 0.1% at this same time.

Here's what's sending the ASX tech stock flying higher.

ASX tech stock inks US government deal

The Archtis share price is lifting off after the company reported that it has signed a $2.3 million contract to expand NC Protect licenses with the Australian Department of Defence. That sum includes GST.

According to the release, NC Protect "dynamically secures sensitive information by applying zero trust enforcement policies to data-centric access controls across Microsoft 365, SharePoint on premises and file share environments".

The ASX tech stock is capturing interest with the company's initial annual recurring revenue (ARR) set to increase by $276,000 in the first year. ARR will then increase to $463,000 from year two onwards.

The contract term runs through May 2028.

The new contract comes on the heels of the $700,000 services contract it was awarded in June. Management noted that this "establishes NC Protect as the data-centric security product of choice for Defence SharePoint on-premises deployments".

Pointing to further growth potential, the company expects the new contract will open the market for NC Protect to other defence and government clients around the world. Archtis said its security technology will allow for Australian Defence information to be shared with other allied partners while "enforcing need to know principles and compliance requirements".

Commenting on the government deal sending the ASX tech stock soaring today, Archtis managing director Daniel Lai said, "This contract is an important step to open new market opportunities for NC Protect."

Lai added:

It demonstrates strong growth for NC Protect with a referenceable target market client. It also validates NC Protect's unique value proposition as the premier data-centric security solution for Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) products within the Australian Department of Defence.

This contract places Archtis in a strong position for future growth as global defence organisations struggle with the challenge to securely share and collaborate on the sensitive and classified information.

Despite today's big boost in the Archtis share price, the ASX tech stock is down 25% over 12 months.