Strategic Review of Quantum Capabilities in Military and National Cyber Defense
Haitham Said Naseer ALSarmi · 2025
Quantum technology is an emerging and possibly revolutionary field, capable of impacting several human efforts. Quantum technologies are dual-use, attracting interest from the defense, security, military, and governmental sectors. Previous research has highlighted the substantial benefits of using quantum computing systems across several domains. These systems have previously exhibited the capability to accelerate processing in critical domains, such as big integer factorization, relative to their traditional equivalents. The fundamental significance of quantum factoring has been proven for cryptography. This will render RSA encryption, a widely used encryption method based on the inability of computer systems to factor huge integers, effectively useless. Nonetheless, overcoming encryption is not the only potential use or benefit of quantum computing for national defense and security-related objectives. This review paper explores the emerging role of quantum computing in the military and defense sectors. It highlights the significance of recent advancements in quantum technologies for defense applications and provides an overview of defense-focused quantum research. A comprehensive literature survey examined various existing quantum computing techniques relevant to military use. The paper also presents a comparative analysis of these approaches, discusses key challenges, and outlines potential future directions in this rapidly evolving field.