Quantum Technologies and European Defence Sovereignty

Europe’s quantum agenda is no longer confined to research policy or long-term scientific ambition. It is becoming a strategic sovereignty issue that links cyber resilience, secure government communications, space infrastructure, defence R&D, dual-use export controls, industrial scale-up and public capital.

The central question is whether Europe can convert its scientific base into deployable systems, trusted supply chains and companies able to support defence, critical infrastructure and sovereign communications before the end of the decade. This report reconstructs the emerging European quantum-defence architecture across four connected layers.

This analysis answers: How is Europe's quantum agenda becoming a strategic sovereignty issue linking cyber resilience, secure communications and space infrastructure? What communications infrastructure and secure connectivity does quantum technology enable for defence? What defence capability pathways can convert Europe's scientific base into deployable quantum systems before the end of the decade? What industrial architecture and public investment support the emerging European quantum-defence architecture?