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Insider Brief
- NATO’s new quantum roadmap sets priorities and deadlines for testing military applications, protecting communications and preparing allied forces to adopt quantum technologies.
- Planned activities include quantum sensing sea trials in 2026 and 2027, initial military pilot assessments in 2027 and a quantum-resilient communications pilot linking NATO headquarters in Brussels and Mons.
- The roadmap calls for quantum-resistant cryptography, common standards and workforce training, while making broader operational deployment dependent on technical progress and trial results.
NATO has set deadlines for testing quantum technologies in military operations and strengthening its defenses against quantum threats, turning its research ambitions into a schedule of trials, assessments and security projects.
The alliance’s new Quantum Technology Roadmap calls for sea trials of quantum sensors in 2026 and 2027, an initial report on military pilot evaluations in early 2027 and a communications pilot linking NATO headquarters in Brussels with its military headquarters in Mons, Belgium, by the end of 2027.
The plan also calls for developing a concept for an allied quantum computing access network in the fourth quarter of 2027. That milestone is focused on the network’s design, rather than a commitment to have an operational network running by then.
According to NATO’s public summary, the roadmap is intended to move promising quantum applications from research toward military use while protecting networks, infrastructure and operations against the risks the technology could create. It puts practical steps behind the quantum strategy NATO adopted in November 2023.
The alliance frames that work as a matter of strategic competition. Potential adversaries and competitors are investing heavily in quantum research, creating capabilities that could weaken NATO’s ability to deter attacks and defend its members, according to the roadmap,.
However, the document stops short of promising broad military deployment on a fixed schedule. According to NATO, quantum computing, communications and sensing are developing at different speeds and later stages of the plan will depend on technical progress and the results of initial experiments.
The public summary discloses selected activities across five areas, covering military applications, testing and adoption, common standards, protection against threats, and training.
Testing Military Applications
Among the roadmap’s most concrete projects are the QUESTOR sea trials, which will test quantum sensing in realistic operating conditions through NATO’s Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation.
The trials will check performance in positioning, navigation and timing, particularly where global navigation satellite signals are unavailable. Those functions help military systems determine where they are, where they are going and when events occur.
Quantum sensors use quantum properties of matter or light to make measurements. NATO’s proposed trials are intended to establish how such technologies perform under operational conditions, which is considered a necessary step before determining whether they fit military requirements.
The roadmap schedules the sea trials for 2026 and 2027. Separately, pilot evaluations coordinated through Allied Command Transformation’s innovation activities will produce annual reporting, with the first pilot report expected in the first quarter of 2027 and initial comparative assessments in the fourth quarter.
NATO also plans regular prototyping and testing through initiatives including its Digital Foundry and the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic, known as DIANA. NATO Innovation Ranges could provide another testing route, according to the report.
Before adopting systems, the alliance will see to build a more structured picture of where quantum technology could be useful. The roadmap calls for an initial repository of military and relevant commercial applications within 12 months, followed by periodic updates.
Entries would be assessed for strategic importance, technical feasibility, timing and possible integration into existing capabilities. Allied Command Transformation will work with operational planners, researchers and NATO’s Transatlantic Quantum Community to identify applications with both civilian and military uses.
Annual assessments of emerging developments will examine technological maturity and potential military impact. An initial set of NATO quantum assessment criteria is due in the second quarter of 2027.
Together, those activities are designed to connect research with specific defense needs, giving NATO a basis for deciding which applications warrant further testing.
Protecting Communications
The roadmap treats protection against quantum threats as a parallel priority to developing new capabilities.
Its security measures include adopting and implementing post-quantum cryptography standards. Post-quantum cryptography uses mathematical methods designed to resist attacks from quantum computers, allowing conventional computer systems to improve their protection without requiring quantum hardware.
NATO lists that standards work as ongoing. The next update to its action plan for responding to the quantum threat to cryptography is scheduled for the third quarter of 2027.
An industry-readiness study by the NATO Industrial Advisory Group is due in the second quarter of that year. It will assess preparedness for quantum-resistant cryptographic solutions, bringing suppliers’ capabilities into the alliance’s security planning.
The Quantum Zero Beacon Project provides a more specific communications test. According to the roadmap, the project is establishing a pilot between NATO headquarters in Brussels and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons to demonstrate and validate a practical route toward quantum-resilient communications.
The roadmap gives the project a fourth-quarter 2027 milestone. The public summary does not specify its technical architecture, performance targets or the scope of any subsequent rollout.
That distinction matters because a pilot can establish whether an approach works in a defined setting without demonstrating that it is ready for use across an alliance’s networks. NATO’s broader plan explicitly moves through experimentation and capability development before operational adoption.
Common Standards and Skills
NATO reports in the roadmap that the defense organization also wants to reduce the risk that allies develop quantum systems that cannot work together.
The roadmap calls for a quantum standardization specialist team within its Science and Technology Organization by the third quarter of 2027. An alliance quantum standards roadmap, led by the same organization, is scheduled for the third quarter of 2029.
Those efforts will have to account for differences among computing, communications and sensing. NATO says each field has distinct levels of maturity, testing needs, standards and protection requirements.
Training is another part of the implementation plan. Initial education modules are to be developed within 12 months and updated as the technology develops. NATO also plans continued engagement with companies and universities to improve understanding of quantum applications and threats.
The Transatlantic Quantum Community and its industry network will help connect technology companies, military users, government authorities and funding organizations. According to the roadmap, workshops through that community helped shape the plan.
Responsibility for implementation spans several NATO bodies. Allied Command Operations will shape military requirements, while Allied Command Transformation will help identify, pilot and validate applications with industry. The NATO Communications and Information Agency will assess options for secure experimentation through its Digital Foundry.
The Digital Policy Committee is responsible for coherent implementation, and NATO’s Cyber and Digital Transformation Division will oversee the roadmap’s development and execution.
The summary does not provide an overall budget or a timetable for equipping allied forces with quantum systems.