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Why the US Needs a Domestic Quantum Supply Chain
Leah March
October 26, 2025
Writer @ Dynamic Tech Media
As federal science budgets face cuts, tariffs come into effect, and great powers race to deploy quantum tech at scale, advanced manufacturers who supply equipment to quantum companies are feeling the squeeze.
From components to talent, every link in the quantum supply chain could shape America’s position in a technology race that has profound implications for national security and economic power.
In this article, we will discuss what the US stands to gain by bolstering a domestic supply chain for quantum technology. We’ll also evaluate the current state of affairs for the domestic quantum tech market and consider the specific technologies that are essential for anchoring an American quantum supply chain.
What’s at Stake in the Quantum Race
By supporting a domestic quantum supply chain, the US will improve national security and gain a position of economic leadership in a disruptive new technology.
It is no secret that the race for quantum supremacy is a matter of national security. The DOD knows what’s at stake, and agencies like DARPA, AFRL, and SpaceWERX provide crucial funding for early-stage tech development and commercialization.
One reason for this level of investment is that quantum computers pose a threat to cybersecurity everywhere: from bank passwords to nuclear codes, quantum computers will crack most encryption with ease. The arms race is on for developing quantum-safe cryptography and scalable, fault-tolerant quantum computers, both as a national defense and as a deterrent.
But quantum computing has a wide range of dual-use applications that go well beyond cybersecurity, and money is pouring into exploring them. In finance quantum computing can model risks and allocate portfolios; in materials science it can simulate chemical properties and molecular composition; and in pharmaceuticals it can model molecules and discover new drugs. Quantum computing will also optimize logistics and could lead to breakthroughs in AI.
Investing in Quantum Tech Beyond Computing
Yet computing is only part of the story. Quantum sensors are being commercialized right now, and they’re being used for mission-critical applications like position, navigation, and timing for aerospace equipment.
To lead in quantum technology, American innovators need reliable access to the advanced technologies that make building quantum devices possible.
Which leads us to our next points: What are the key supply chain technologies that go into quantum tech? And what is the state of the quantum supply chain?
Inside the Tangled Reality
of Quantum Supply Chains
As it stands, quantum supply chains and markets are global.
“That toothpaste has left the tube,” says Vescent CEO Dr. Scott Davis. “Even when people don’t realize it and don’t think they’re buying [component technologies] from China, they are buying from China. It’d be hard to onshore that—it’d be very costly.”
Davis runs a mid-chain quantum supply company of ruggedized photonics and laser control equipment. He further explains that, even with the Trump administration’s 125% tariff on Chinese goods, it is still cheaper to source components from China. Davis is concerned about the fragility of these global supply chains.
Further complicating matters, he says, is the fact that quantum markets are still nascent, and there are several technological elements thirsty for funding besides the finished quantum computers that leave private investors and public officials starry-eyed. For example, Vescent ships products to customers in industries like quantum timing, networking, and sensing. “While quantum computing is getting all this giant buzz, that’s not where we’re getting the volume,” he says.
Quantum companies need lasers and other optical equipment. They also need cryogenics, electronics, and lab equipment.
Funding Concerns and the Role of Public-Private Partnership
While governments around the world have been dumping money into quantum computers, they’ve neglected the more granular, less sexy components of the quantum supply chain. “People like to fund the cool rooftop deck. The rooftop deck isn’t worth anything if you don’t have a foundation for it to stand on,” says Davis.
Another hurdle for suppliers is the fact that the B2B market is still small compared to the academic market, which is under stress from the Trump administration’s budget cuts. Many customers at national labs or universities are either stalling negotiations or backing out altogether, citing funding cuts or funding uncertainty, Davis says.
Now, with cuts to NASA and the NSF looming—both of which support the quantum industry—the reliable stream of customers for homegrown quantum technology suppliers is further jeopardized. “When you decrease funding into STEM, it impacts everything,” says Davis.
Access to talent and scientific breakthroughs—another lynchpin in the supply chain—is proving to be a mixed bag for the domestic supplier ecosystem. We rely on labs like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to both train new researchers and push forward fundamental science that entrepreneurs can then take out of the lab and commercialize. “I’m seeing brain drain from US public service that I never thought I would see in my lifetime,” says Davis.
He emphasizes the importance of public-private partnerships in realizing the economic potential of nascent disruptive technologies. “The public piece is a critical piece of this—our national labs, our public universities. When you kneecap that piece, it’s not good for the industry long term.” But there are some short-term silver linings: the private sector is flooded with top talent. “This person I never thought I could hire, now, maybe I could hire,” says Davis. “It’s complicated.”
Photonics in Colorado:
A Key Player in the Quantum Supply Chain Ecosystem
Photonics are a key example of quantum supply chain technology. You could think of lasers like screws: the companies that produce screws aren’t mining the metals or selling ingots. Instead, they provide components that go into whatever the builder wants to create.
Similarly, photonics—like those that Vescent builds—provide quantum engineers with a variety of ready-to-use tools to streamline the building process. These mid-chain suppliers are especially dependent on reliable component sourcing and R&D customers to stay viable. Here are some examples of Colorado’s own mid-chain integrated parts suppliers:
Octave Photonics produces photonic integrated circuits,— which are analogous to microelectronic chips except that they replace electronic transistors with pathways for light. Octave’s chips go into many quantum technologies, just like NVIDIA chips go into AI data centers.
Apex Atomics fabricates finished sensors as well as chip-scale vapor cells, which sit at the heart of many types of quantum sensors. Mesa Quantum is developing quantum-ready VCSEL lasers alongside their flagship atomic clock and other quantum sensing products.
With several other suppliers including Meadowlark Optics, KM Labs, Stable Laser Systems, and Excelitas—to name only a few—Colorado is a hotbed of both quantum device manufacturers and optical equipment suppliers. The Colorado Photonics Industry Association brings them all together.
Photonics are a key example of a mid-chain technology that gets overlooked when it comes to funding initiatives and policy discussions. “We have to take a look at this quantum supply chain, and maybe out of the billions and billions of dollars we’ve been throwing into making the nice deck on the top of the roof, we should take a small fraction of that and shore up the foundation,” says Davis.
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Can the US Still Lead in Quantum?
The American quantum supply chain is doubtlessly facing choppy waters: from losing long-standing customers to fronting steep costs for supplies, the business case for quantum suppliers is changing. We can’t sugarcoat the fact that we are seriously at risk of falling behind.
But there are opportunities: while the US guts science budgets, allies like Europe, Australia, and Japan are opening their wallets and setting their tables for quantum tech. Large corporations like Microsoft, IBM, and J.P. Morgan continue to invest, and the DOD still recognizes the strategic importance of both advancing our quantum tech sector and scaling a homegrown industrial base to supply it.
Finally, as Davis points out, the brain behind the first National Quantum Initiative, Michael Kratsios, is now heading the Office of Science and Technology Policy for the White House, and Paul Dabbar, cofounder of Bohr Quantum, is the Deputy Secretary of Commerce. These are signs of hope that quantum will be prioritized in policy discussions.
“You don’t get to choose the climate you’re in. You’ve just got to navigate the seas you’re in,” says Davis.
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