Dr. Vivek Lall, a distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution, is the chief executive of General Atomics Global Corp. He participates in Hoover’s Huntington Program on Strengthening US-India Relations. Dr. Haibo Huang is the director of the Center of Excellence in Advanced Diagnostics at General Atomics.
The 2025 Nobel Prize in physics celebrated the discovery that engineerable electric circuits could possess quantum-mechanical properties similar to those of single particles of matter or light. This breakthrough from the mid-1980s launched today’s intense worldwide race for “quantum advantage”: the ability to perform tasks with capabilities leapfrogging current technology.
Yet amid the fervor surrounding quantum computing, with its promise of revolutionary code-breaking and drug discovery capabilities, America risks overlooking a more immediate opportunity: quantum sensing. While quantum computers remain years or decades from practical deployment, quantum sensors are ready today. The nation that leads in this technology will gain decisive advantages in navigation, communications, resource exploration, and national defense.
The power of “noise”
The physics underpinning quantum sensing poses an irony. To achieve quantum computing, researchers must overcome environmental “noise”: tiny perturbations that destroy quantum states. Practical quantum computers need to cope with these errors— they need to increase in scale and complexity that exceed today’s capabilities.
Quantum sensors turn this challenge on its head. The same environmental sensitivity that plagues quantum computers becomes the quantum sensors’ greatest strength. These devices exploit quantum mechanics to detect infinitesimally small variations in magnetic fields, gravitational forces, electromagnetic waves, and other signals. A single quantum sensor can outperform its classical counterpart. No error correction is required and no increase in complexity is called for.
This fundamental difference in technological maturity should reshape our national quantum strategy.
But recent analysis shows that less than 10 percent of private investment in quantum technology flows into quantum sensing, despite its significantly shorter path to practical deployment. This resource allocation represents both a strategic vulnerability and an opportunity for American leadership.
From lab to battlefield
Quantum sensors come in many varieties, each suited to different applications. Some use ensembles of atoms suspended in vapor and probed with lasers or microwaves. Others employ engineered defects in solids that act as artificial atoms. Superconducting circuits form another family, encompassing photon detectors, RF receivers, and amplifiers that routinely demonstrate greater sensitivity and accuracy than conventional sensors.
These technologies are already proving their worth in basic science. Superconducting microwave sensors now provide the clearest images of the cosmic microwave background: the oldest light in the universe. Similar sensors recently installed at CERN’s particle accelerator are revealing new properties of antimatter. But the real transformation will come when quantum sensors move from research laboratories into the real world.
Consider navigation. We live in a world where GPS signals are routinely jammed in conflict zones. Russia’s interference with GPS in Ukraine and the Baltic region demonstrates how vulnerable satellite-dependent navigation has become. Quantum sensors offer an unjammable alternative: an all-weather, all-terrain solution based upon subtle variations in Earth’s magnetic and gravitational fields as fingerprints for geolocating. Unlike satellite signals, these natural phenomena cannot be disrupted or denied by adversaries.
The implications extend far beyond military operations. Quantum magnetic and gravitational sensors can locate underground resources (mineral deposits, oil reserves, or hidden infrastructure) with unprecedented precision. Quantum receivers can detect faint or low-frequency electromagnetic signals, enabling clearer communications in challenging environments or more secure transmission of sensitive information.
Other quantum sensors are revolutionizing how we see the world. Advanced quantum cameras can analyze light across the spectrum (from infrared to gamma rays) with capabilities well beyond those of classical detectors. Some measure the timing of individual photons with exquisite precision; others determine the exact color of single photons. These capabilities will transform biological diagnostics, semiconductor fabrication, monitoring of nuclear materials, and the development of new functional materials such as catalysts.
Crossing the “valley of death”
The path from laboratory demonstration to operational deployment (often called the “valley of death”) has claimed countless promising technologies. Quantum sensing need not suffer this fate, but crossing this valley requires deliberate action.
Many quantum sensors have already demonstrated compelling performance advantages. The remaining challenges are reducing the size, weight, and power requirements of supporting equipment, mitigating noise and interference on the platforms on which they are mounted, and integrating into the system-level control software. These engineering improvements, while not glamorous, can produce disruptive performance by making entire classes of quantum technology practical for field deployment.
This is where partnerships between government and industry are critical. The federal government can provide the clear programmatic goals and the sustained funding needed to drive quantum sensors from prototype to production. Industry can bring engineering expertise and manufacturing capability to achieve the cost reductions and reliability improvements necessary for widespread adoption.
The National Quantum Initiative, authorized during the first Trump administration, provided a framework for such collaboration. Its reauthorization should prioritize quantum sensing alongside quantum computing, with dedicated funding streams for transitioning mature sensor technologies into operational systems. Several new initiatives (notably the Quantum Transition Acceleration and the Defense Innovation Unit programs) represent exactly this kind of focused effort, but increased attention is needed on resource allocation and interagency coordination.
A strategic imperative
The United States and China are leading the development of the underlying quantum technology. China has a clear lead in quantum communications, but the United States maintains an edge in quantum computing and sensing. The United States should play to its strength and take advantage of the opportunity to transition quantum sensing from the laboratory to the field. These sensors can be mounted on existing platforms (from aircraft to submarines to ground vehicles), achieving new capabilities far more cost-effectively than by replacing entire systems.
Moreover, quantum sensors address pressing vulnerabilities in America’s critical infrastructure. Our dependence on GPS for everything from power grid synchronization to financial transactions creates systemic risk. Quantum sensors can provide resilient alternatives for positioning, navigation, and timing that cannot be jammed, spoofed, or denied.
The economic impacts are equally compelling. Quantum sensing will spawn new industries in resource exploration, environmental monitoring, and precision manufacturing. First-mover advantage will position American companies to capture global markets as quantum sensors become standard equipment across multiple sectors.
Time to act
Because more rapid progress can be achieved at lower risk than in quantum computing, America would be well served by a stronger focus on quantum sensing. The United States should prioritize quantum sensing in its quantum technology strategy, ensuring adequate funding for transition programs that move sensors from laboratory to field. It should foster partnerships between government laboratories, defense agencies, and private industry to accelerate development of supporting technologies. And it should maintain export controls and security measures that protect American quantum innovations from foreign exploitation.
Quantum sensing represents a rare convergence: a technology that is both strategically vital and practically achievable in the near term. America can secure immediate advantages in navigation, communications, resource discovery, and national defense through quantum sensors.
The question is not whether quantum sensing will transform these fields; it already has. The question is whether America will lead that transformation or forfeit national interest to foreign competitors.
