Artificial intelligence has already transformed modern battlefields. During Operation Roaring Lion (aka Epic Fury), AI systems have been operationally embedded in intelligence analysis, target identification, and war planning. Technologies that once seemed experimental are now woven into military decision-making. Yet AI may represent only the first phase of a broader technological transformation.
Quantum computing, once considered a distant scientific possibility, could redefine the limits of computation and simultaneously reshape cryptography, materials science, sensing, logistics, and AI itself. The strategic stakes are enormous: The broader quantum technology ecosystem is projected to generate between $1 trillion and $2 trillion in annual economic impact by 2035, according to McKinsey's Quantum Technology Monitor.
The quantum race has begun, and the countries that understand it earliest will shape the balance of power in the mid-twenty-first century.
National security planners must understand clearly that quantum computing is not just another IT upgrade. It is a strategic technology that will affect military simulation, cyberwarfare, intelligence analysis, logistics, materials science, and the race to build more capable AI systems. The countries that master it first will gain advantages not only in defense, but also in economic resilience, industrial power, and diplomatic leverage.
Quantum and the next phase of AI
Today’s AI boom is placing extraordinary pressure on global computing infrastructure. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that data center electricity consumption will surge from 460 terawatt-hours in 2024 to over 1,000 terawatt-hours by 2030. Computing are now constrained by power, cooling, and grid capacity, as well as by chips.
Quantum computing offers a potential escape from part of that bottleneck. Hybrid quantum-classical architectures could dramatically accelerate specific optimization, simulation, and machine-learning tasks, and recent theoretical work shows quantum systems can achieve an exponential energy-consumption advantage over classical machines for many problem classes.
For a technologically advanced but resource-constrained country like Israel, these efficiencies could be operationally decisive. Quantum-enhanced AI could also improve autonomous systems, namely drones, robotic platforms, and next-generation defense applications that depend on rapid, high-quality decision-making algorithms.
The end of secrecy? Quantum and cybersecurity
The most immediate national security threat is cryptographic. Most of today’s digital infrastructure, from banking systems to military communications, relies on encryption that classical computers would need thousands of years to crack. Yet a sufficiently powerful quantum computer could break it in hours. Security analysts call this inflection point “Q-Day,” and the US intelligence community has described it as “the most pressing technological challenge since the Manhattan Project.”
Even before Q-Day arrives, adversaries are already exploiting a “harvest now, decrypt later” strategy: collecting encrypted communications today and expecting future quantum machines to unlock them. The United States has responded decisively, with NIST releasing its first post-quantum cryptography (PQC) standards in August 2024. The NSA requires all new National Security Systems to be quantum-safe by January 2027, and full compliance across critical infrastructure is mandated by 2030. While updating global encryption may still take more than a decade, early preparation is essential for any nation that depends on secure communications.
In environments where GPS is jammed or spoofed, quantum-based inertial navigation systems could allow submarines, aircraft, and autonomous platforms to navigate with full accuracy. Quantum sensing may also enable detection of underground facilities or stealth platforms through gravitational and electromagnetic signatures invisible to conventional instruments.
On materials, quantum computers are uniquely suited to simulating molecular interactions, one of the hardest problems for classical machines. This could accelerate discovery of lighter armor, higher-density drone batteries, corrosion-resistant naval components, and semiconductors optimized at the atomic level. In long strategic competition, materials breakthroughs are often decisive, and quantum simulation could compress what once took decades into years.
Nations that move early on quantum-enabled materials research will gain industrial and military advantages that are difficult to reverse.
The global quantum race
Cumulative global public investment in quantum technologies now exceeds $54b. The United States leads: the Department of Energy renewed $625 million in funding for its five national quantum research centers through 2030, and proposed legislation would add $2.5b. more for 2026–2030. A White House executive order on quantum strategy, directing the Departments of Energy, Commerce, and Defense to establish a joint Center of Excellence, is currently being drafted.
China treats quantum as a state priority, with an estimated $15b. invested to date and a commanding lead in quantum communication infrastructure. The United Kingdom has committed £2.5b. over 10 years, targeting quantum computers capable of running one trillion operations by 2035. Japan recently committed $7.4b.. The race is geopolitical, and no nation is sitting it out.
Israel occupies a distinctive position. Though it is smaller in scale, it has an exceptional concentration of talent and cybersecurity expertise, as well as defense urgency, along with the ability to translate frontier science into deployable capability. The Israeli Quantum Computing Center, launched in 2024 as the first facility to tightly integrate multiple quantum computers with classical supercomputers, is both a research asset and a signal of strategic intent.
The alliance of iron and quantum
In this race, size doesn't always matter, but synergy does. The U.S. brings to the table the massive resources of the National Quantum Initiative, its giant national labs, and the computing power of tech giants. Israel, on the other hand, provides the "special forces" of technology: an agile ecosystem, top-tier engineering talent, and a proven ability to rapidly translate scientific breakthroughs into operational tools in record time.
For example, strategic cooperation between the two nations in "Cyber-Safe" domains and the development of hybrid AI-Quantum platforms is key to maintaining the qualitative edge of the IDF and the US Military against the Sino-Russian axis, which is investing billions to outpace the West in the quantum turn.
The Bottom Line: Building the Foundations of Power
The conclusion for national security planners is clear. AI has already entered the battlespace. Quantum is next, and across a broader range of strategic domains simultaneously. The encryption protecting today’s most sensitive communications is already being harvested by adversaries planning to decrypt it in the future. The transition window for post-quantum cryptography is measured in months, not decades. Governments that have not begun this migration are already behind.
Quantum computing industry revenue reached $650–$750 million in 2025 and is expected to surpass $1b. in 2026. Practical quantum advantages are already being demonstrated in simulation, logistics, and materials modeling. The technology is crossing from laboratory to deployment.
The governments that begin preparing today, rather than waiting for the technology to fully mature, will shape the strategic balance of the mid-twenty-first century. The foundations of military power in 2040 are being built in laboratories right now.
Strategic implications for Israel: leading the quantum edge
For Israel, the quantum transition is not merely a technological milestone but a vital necessity for maintaining its Qualitative Military Edge (QME) in an increasingly hostile theater. As a global cybersecurity powerhouse, Israel must lead the migration to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) to defend its critical infrastructure against "harvest now, decrypt later" tactics employed by regional adversaries and their global backers. Operationally, quantum-enhanced AI and sensing offer Israel a solution to its inherent lack of geographic depth; the ability to navigate with pinpoint accuracy in GPS-denied environments and detect underground or stealth threats through quantum sensors could redefine the IDF’s "preemptive" doctrine.
Central to this effort is a deep, synergistic alliance with the United States. By integrating its agile "technological special forces" ecosystem with American massive resources and national laboratories, Israel can ensure that this joint strategic front remains technologically unassailable. Mastering quantum-enhanced AI and sensing through this partnership will provide Israel with decisive operational advantages, transforming quantum collaboration into a core national asset that safeguards sovereignty and promotes long-term stability through a shared technological future with its most vital ally.
The race has already begun, and losing is not an option.
Hadas Lorber is the head of the Institute for Applied Research in Responsible AI at HIT and of the Deep-Tech & National Security Project at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS). She is also a former senior director at the National Security Council (NSC).
Dr. Jesse Van Griensven is a professor at the University of Waterloo and a leading researcher integrating AI and quantum computing to develop advanced cybersecurity solutions, author of two seminal books in the field and a pioneer in quantum-proof cryptography hardware.
Brig. Gen. (Res.) Nir Ben-David is a senior entrepreneur and strategist serving as CEO of the ICAN network and SVP of the Israel–Canada Chamber of Commerce, leveraging extensive IDF leadership and technological expertise to forge high-impact strategic and business ties between Israel and Canada.