“Quantum sensing is here today [for] navigation in face of GPS jamming and spoofing,” Jack Hidary, founder and CEO of quantum software firm SandBoxAQ, told Breaking Defense.
Executive Order 14411 orders fast-track fielding of quantum sensors
President Donald Trump signed two executive orders late today advancing quantum technologies; the larger package, Executive Order 14411 on “quantum innovation,” directs the Pentagon to rush selected quantum sensor projects into operational use. The order requires that “Within 60 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of War shall identify at least three next-generation quantum sensor projects to prioritize in order to field these sensors by September 30, 2028,” the EO states.
EO 14411 frames the effort as part of a broader mission “to ensure that the United States maintains a strategic technical advantage” across quantum computing, secure communications, networking and sensing. For sensors specifically, the order moves the Defense Department from experimentation to a fixed deployment timeline: the administration has set a clear calendar and a short runway for moving prototypes into the field.
Quantum sensing: navigation alternatives and anti-submarine research
The executive order reflects a practical shift: the same quantum behaviors that complicate error-free quantum computing can make sensors extraordinarily sensitive to minute signals. The Pentagon has been field-testing quantum sensors in both the air and outer space, and firms such as SandBoxAQ have tested the technology for the Air Force. The source singled out navigation as an immediate, operational use — alternative precision navigation when GPS is jammed or spoofed — a problem cited as occurring routinely around war-torn Ukraine and the Middle East.
Other laboratories, the reporting notes, have explored using quantum sensors to hunt hostile submarines without relying on sonar, indicating a portfolio of sensor missions that reach from contested airspaces to the undersea domain.
EO 14411’s quantum computing goal and an Energy Department site
Alongside sensors, EO 14411 directs a major scientific computing effort: to build “at least one” reliable, powerful quantum computer for scientific research and to place it at a to-be-determined Energy Department site. The Pentagon is listed first among a long roster of agencies asked to support the Energy quantum computer program, and the order includes a specific call-out to the NSA as part of that interagency effort.
The combined approach — investing in computing, networking and sensing — treats multiple quantum modalities as mutually reinforcing, with the Energy Department positioned as the home for a research-grade quantum machine backed by defense and intelligence support.
Executive Order 14409: civilian-directed post-quantum cryptography
The companion directive, Executive Order 14409, concentrates on cybersecurity: specifically, replacing current encryption algorithms that would be vulnerable to quantum computers with “post-quantum cryptography” (PQC). Crucially, EO 14409 applies to civilian agencies and their contractors; “national security systems” are specifically exempted, and the Pentagon is assigned an advisory role rather than a mandated implementer.
The reporting notes that the Defense Department and its contractors have been working to implement PQC for years, and this order effectively requires the rest of the federal civilian enterprise to accelerate to the Pentagon’s existing posture on quantum-resistant encryption.
What this means for the Pentagon, the Energy Department, and defense contractors
- The Pentagon and operational forces: face concrete deadlines. The department must move from tests to deployments for at least three sensor projects identified within 60 days and field them by September 30, 2028, stretching acquisition and integration timelines into a compressed schedule.
- The Energy Department and scientific researchers: are tasked with hosting “at least one” powerful quantum computer for scientific research, with interagency support pledged and the NSA explicitly called out to assist — a coordination and site-selection challenge ahead.
- Defense contractors and civilian agency IT teams: will see different obligations. Contractors tied to national security systems remain governed by existing classified pathways, while civilian contractors must accelerate adoption of post-quantum cryptography under EO 14409 to align with the new federal mandate.
The pair of orders stitches operational urgency to long-term scientific investment: a fast-track for sensors that can counter routine GPS jamming and spoofing, an energy-hosted scientific quantum computer backed by defense agencies, and a split approach to cyber defenses that preserves national security exemptions while forcing civilian agencies to harden encryption. With an explicit 60‑day identification window and a September 30, 2028 fielding date, the orders set a tight tempo — and now the named agencies must translate deadlines into acquisition, testing and deployment plans.
Source: Breaking Defense — Executive order jumpstarts Pentagon’s quantum sensor projects
