Yes, but it’s exactly what DARPA generally does. They fund people to propose and prototype. I remember my Dad trying to get grants in the SBIR program. In phase I, they’re funding projects that are merely proposals for something they could eventually fund. Things may graduate from ARPA and go through the normal procurement process or they might be shelved.

The government and military are very large consumers of internet hardware, software and services, all of which would look very different if they waited on the private sector. (Probably something specified by ITU).