An employee holds a quantum chip in Villach, Austria in May 2026. (Photo by BARBARA GINDL / APA / AFP via Getty Images)
APA/AFP via Getty Images
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization unveiled a new roadmap on September 29 to increase investment in and speed up the use of quantum technology for defense systems.
As European nations seek to improve their abilities to defend themselves from armed aggression and malicious drone intrusions, quantum technology offers NATO an avenue to improve its collective ability to respond to hostile military force.
The alliance will increase its cooperation with researchers and private companies to produce and obtain new quantum technology to advance the speed, accuracy and security of national defense infrastructures of participating allies.
“NATO will work with Allies, industry and the research community to identify and develop priority defense use cases, support the transition of promising quantum applications from research to operational deployment, and enhance the Alliance’s understanding of both the opportunities and risks associated with QT,” the document stated.
Drone intrusions continue to threaten civilians and infrastructure in NATO countries, prompting the alliance to focus more on defense. Flight operations were suspended in Germany’s capital last week on September 23, 2026, due to a drone sighting at Berlin-Brandenburg Airport. Photo: Christophe Gateau/dpa (Photo by Christophe Gateau/picture alliance via Getty Images)
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
Key areas of development include quantum communications, sensing and computing. In keeping with NATO’s need for a unified response to aggression, the technology must be interoperable across participating countries, according to the roadmap.
NATO will seek to test new quantum technology regularly and speedily adopt it for operational use, including in space domain, communications systems and in artificial intelligence technology. The alliance also aims to create new opportunities to train military service members to use quantum-driven systems.
Another priority of NATO’s roadmap is defending infrastructure and systems against adversaries using quantum technology against member nations and NATO forces. To that end, the alliance emphasizes its need for stronger cybersecurity systems and cryptographic solutions to protect its resources.
The technology would supercharge existing defense systems, enhancing the ability of European nations to protect civilians and infrastructure from harm.
This jump towards quantum comes during a time of unprecedented challenges facing European countries as they grapple with hybrid threats from unmanned systems and open warfare in Ukraine still continuing on the continent.
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