Boosting U.S. Quantum Supply Chains for Enduring Advantage

The United States is home to the world’s leading quantum technology companies, yet the industrial base supporting them remains fragile, putting U.S. quantum leadership at risk. Critical inputs—from advanced photonics and cryogenic systems to specialized materials and microfabrication—are often concentrated among foreign suppliers or not yet optimized for reliable performance and manufacturability. As U.S. quantum systems transition to real-world deployment across national security and commercial domains, supply chain gaps risk slowing development and upscaling—and shifting value creation abroad.

The Center for a New American Security (CNAS) will hold a panel discussion on Tuesday, March 17, from 3:00–4:00 p.m. ET on how the United States can strengthen quantum supply chains and manufacturing to secure a lasting strategic advantage. The event will mark the release of a forthcoming report by CNAS Fellow Constanza M. Vidal Bustamante and Adjunct Senior Fellow John Burke, which offers a framework to diagnose supply chain vulnerabilities and a portfolio of actions to bolster the U.S. quantum industrial base in the decisive years ahead.

Panelists will examine the most consequential vulnerabilities across the quantum supply chain, why market dynamics and federal investments have struggled to catalyze domestic capacity, how intensifying international competition is tightening the window for action, and which policy tools can most effectively strengthen U.S. quantum supply chains for scale and long-term competitiveness.

The expert panel will feature:

• Chris Miller, professor, The Fletcher School at Tufts University; nonresident senior fellow, American Enterprise Institute
  
• Celia Merzbacher, executive director, Quantum Economic Development Consortium
  
• Constanza Vidal Bustamante, fellow, CNAS Technology and National Security Program
  
• John Burke, adjunct senior fellow, CNAS; former principal director of quantum, Department of Defense