March 12, 2025 (Mountain View, CA)— In the coming months, the Defense Innovation Unit’s (DIU’s) Transition of Quantum Sensing (TQS) program will demonstrate the military utility of quantum sensors to address strategic Joint Force competencies like positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), as well as anomaly detection. Significant progress on the scientific understanding and product development of quantum sensors, offering the promise of significant improvements in precision, accuracy, and sensitivity compared to classical sensors, is being made, and these solutions, as well as the supporting companies advancing these technologies, are ready to proceed forward.
“DIU, along with Office of the Under Secretary of Defense Research & Engineering for Quantum (OUSD(R&E)-Quantum) and collaborators across the services, launched the TQS program in the summer of 2024 to focus on the strategic missions where quantum sensing is ideally suited,” said LtCol Nicholas Estep, Director of the Emerging Technologies Portfolio at DIU. “In less than six months, we went from strategy, to source selection and awards, and are now off and executing unique technical solutions across five lines of effort: inertial sensors, gravimeters, magnetic anomaly detection, magnetic navigation, and technology insertions & component development.”
TQS strategy development incorporated subject matter experts from across the DoD community including Program Execution Offices, and operational stakeholders. The TQS program is organized into five inter-related lines of effort targeting improvements in existing strategic capabilities, as well as expanding operational competencies that have no existing equivalent, across all the services. In the initial phase of TQS, roughly spanning 12 months, there will be more than 10 field tests of quantum sensing applications in relevant DoD environments spanning ground, air, and maritime domains.
Quantum Inertial Sensors
Inertial sensors are a means to observe linear and angular accelerations of a platform over time to maintain custody of orientation, position, and location, especially when an operator cannot solely rely on external reference signals, such as GPS. This line of effort is focused on two use cases: one for dynamic, airborne platforms of the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force, and another for maritime platforms of the U.S. Navy. Additionally, Air Force Global Strike Command and several Combatant Commands have provided advocacy for such next generation PNT capabilities.
One approach to quantum inertial sensors is to use atom interferometry, where the wave-like behavior of atoms are used to measure acceleration and rotation. The technology relies on the fact that all atoms of the same isotope are identical, to which they can be manipulated into superposition states with lasers, resulting in marked improvement in precision and long term stability of the inertial properties of the atoms. Another approach to quantum inertial sensors is to detect motion by observing the shift of the magnetic moment noble gas nuclei under a polarizing magnetic field. The inertial motion of the spin-polarized nuclei can be deduced by measuring the modulation of circularly polarized light that is transmitted through the gas. Each approach has compelling DoD use case insertion opportunities and the TQS program will mature both approaches and assess the utility in the respective relevant environments.
Quantum Gravimeters
A natural extension for inertial sensors is to use them for acceleration measurements to detect local gravity effects. This measurement modality, referred to as gravimetry, is particularly useful for land surveying and navigation based on gravity anomalies. The quantum variant for gravimetry uses laser-manipulated atoms as the free falling mass to extract acceleration from Earth’s gravity.
The U.S. Navy is one of the primary interested parties in quantum sensor based gravimetry, as it is ideally suited for the maritime domain for gravity aided navigation. “The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is actively pursuing quantum sensors for multiple applications. In collaboration with DIU under the TQS effort we are maturing an atomic accelerometer for naval navigation applications,” says Dr. Tommy Willis, Program Manager at ONR. “The stability provided by the atomic systems is unique and opens up new operational spaces in the maritime domain.”
Quantum Magnetic Sensing for Navigation and Anomaly Detection
Compact solid state or atomic magnetometers that operate at ambient temperatures are ideal for broad adoptability into the DoD where precise measurements of small variations in the magnetic field environment provide mission critical information. The local magnetic field strength, and also the magnetic field’s gradient, can be used for navigation in GPS denied environments or for detection of adversarial objects.
"Subtle shifts in Earth's magnetic field, caused by variations in the Earth's crust, can act as a natural navigation signal for aircraft when GPS is unavailable," explains Dr. Kevin Brink, Section Chief for Navigation at AFRL Munitions Directorate. "We want to provide warfighters with options for reliable navigation – regardless of terrain or time of day – using the compact and cost-effective quantum sensors in development with the TQS effort and we believe magnetic anomaly navigation has the potential to become a cornerstone for affordable and robust navigation within the DoD."
For magnetic navigation and anomaly detection, it is critical for magnetic sensors, referred to as magnetometers, to maintain high sensitivity, large detection range, high sampling rate, and low drift. This is where quantum magnetometers provide a critical advantage over their conventional counterparts. Quantum magnetometers can be formed using the nuclear spin of spin-polarized atomic gases, similar to those used for inertial sensing, and also through a specific type of atomic defect in diamond crystals known as Nitrogen-Vacancy centers, where the spin of a single electron can be used for scalar of vector magnetometry. Different approaches to magnetometers have DoD mission insertion opportunities, and the TQS program will assess each implementation in various airborne operations for broad adoption potential to various DoD services
“Although we have interest in all areas of quantum technology, quantum sensors have potentially the most significant, near-term promise for application to the Naval Aviation mission sets. We are excited about the partnership between DIU, the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division and Naval Surface Warfare Centers in bringing these technologies rapidly to the Fleet,” says Mr. Shawn Slade, Science and Technology Portfolio Manager at the Naval Air Systems Command.
Component, Supply Chain for Quantum Sensor System Insertion
The final line of effort within the TQS project is component development, which will enable reduction in size, weight, and power consumption of the quantum sensor systems, while also improving the ruggedization. This includes developing chip-scale lasers, photonics integrated circuits, and controlling electronics, all of which interact with the quantum sensing portion of the sensor system.
“Quantum technology, an emerging and enabling technology, is predicated on other emerging and enabling technologies from Advanced Materials to Microelectronics: In order for Quantum Technology to make a DoD impact in practice, we are funding development of those components from the OUSD(R&E) Quantum Applications Program and partnering with many other programs across OSD, including DIU, the Armed Service Departments and the rest of Government,” says Dr. John Burke, Principal Director of Quantum Science at OUSD(R&E). “Together we can create a sustainable Quantum Technology ecosystem ready to integrate into the many DoD systems and platforms where it could give us a competitive edge.”
TQS History Looking Back, Going Forward
The precipice of operationalizing quantum sensors did not materialize overnight; key DoD and USG organizations, to include OUSD(R&E), DARPA, ONR, AFRL, DOE, ARL, among others, have seeded the technology development allowing for fieldable demonstration in relevant environments today. These activities have laid the groundwork for a vibrant quantum sensor ecosystem that includes startups, non-traditional government contractors, as well as traditional defense contractors.
After running a highly competitive solicitation, DIU awarded Other Transaction (OT) agreements to the following performers, serving either as prime or subcontractors. Performers include: Alare Technologies, Anduril, AOSense, Beacon Photonics, Freedom Photonics, Frequency Electronics Inc., Honeywell, Leidos, Nexus Photonics, Lockheed Martin Corp., Northrop Grumman Corp., Princeton Innotech, Q-CTRL, QuSpin, SubUAS, Twinleaf LLC, Vector Atomic, and White River Technologies.
“DIU took a forward-looking programmatic approach when building the TQS project by encouraging teaming arrangements between atypical collaborators, including a diverse mixture of start-ups, non-traditional DoD solution providers, and also traditional defense contractors,” says LtCol Nicholas Estep. “The TQS acquisition approach took a holistic view of the end-solution by bringing sensor, software, and platform makers together for prototyping. Additionally, we are incorporating open data standards like ASPN and informing foundational map data products where applicable. This will enable rapid demonstration of operational utility and broad adoption in the DoD community, on the presumption of successful outcomes from this program.”
Significant progress in the TQS program is expected throughout 2025, with notable field demonstrations across all lines of effort. “It is imperative that we leverage our advancing knowledge of quantum mechanics to deliver robust and resilient PNT to our warfighters. TQS demonstrators and prototypes will not just yield new clocks, inertial measurement units and magnetometers, it begins a new era in PNT, ” noted Dr. Jeff Hebert, Air Force Research Lab’ Senior Scientist for PNT.