DARPA has announced that performers in its Quantum-Augmented Network (QuANET) program have demonstrated the first functioning quantum-augmented network. The demonstration, which took place at a cross-team hackathon 10 months into the program, addressed the challenge of integrating quantum systems into classical networking infrastructure.
The network transmitted messages using both classical and quantum links. Researchers encoded data onto squeezed light, a quantum state of light, for transmission. Through real-time optimization, the transmission time for a message was reduced from five minutes to 0.7 milliseconds, achieving a bit rate of 6.8 Mbps. The program is also working toward deploying hyperentangled photons, which are entangled in multiple quantum properties, to improve communication efficiency and security.
The QuANET program aims to create an integrated network to support secure global communication and collaborative research by enabling quantum links to operate within existing network architectures. QuANET Program Manager Allyson O’Brien, Ph.D., noted that this work could lead to improved security, efficiency, privacy, and resiliency. The program will take another step forward in the fall with its first Phase test event, which will feature a demo of a quantum-classical architecture operating in an operational setting with fielded fiber optics.
Read the full announcement here.
August 11, 2025
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