Loading
Loading
Quantum & Cyber / Quantum Sensing
“Quantum sensing” is not one technology. It is a family of measurement modalities, each with its own physics, its own maturity, and its own airborne integration problem. This page names them one at a time, including what DERECHO is not claiming about each.
Candidate modalities · Research & integration architecture
Modality 01
Illustrative motif, not sensor data.
What is measured
Magnetic field strength and gradients, measured by techniques such as atomic vapor magnetometry and nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center magnetometry.
Why it may matter
Earth's magnetic field is a map that cannot be jammed like a radio signal. Precise airborne magnetometry is studied for navigation referencing, field mapping, and detection of magnetic anomalies.
The integration problem
An aircraft is a magnetically noisy object: motors, currents, and structure all contaminate the measurement. Isolating a precision magnetometer from its own platform is a central integration problem.
Relationship to STRIX
STRIX is intended as a carrier for evaluating compact magnetometers against real platform noise, vibration, and motion.
Not claimed
No detection of any specific target class is claimed, and no magnetometer has been integrated or flown on a DERECHO platform.
Modality 02
Illustrative motif, not sensor data.
What is measured
Radio-frequency and electric fields, including research approaches such as Rydberg-atom sensing that use atomic states as calibrated field probes.
Why it may matter
Quantum RF techniques are being studied, across the research community, for weak-signal detection, wide-band spectrum awareness, and calibration-grade field measurement without a classical antenna's constraints.
The integration problem
Laser systems, vapor cells, and optical alignment are sensitive to vibration and temperature, exactly what an airframe provides in abundance.
Relationship to STRIX
STRIX is intended as an airborne testbed for evaluating whether compact RF-sensing payloads survive and perform in flight-representative conditions.
Not claimed
This is not “quantum radar,” and no range, sensitivity, bandwidth, or target-detection performance is claimed.
Modality 03
Illustrative motif, not sensor data.
What is measured
Acceleration and rotation, using approaches such as atom interferometry, studied as a path toward inertial references with slower error growth.
Why it may matter
Every navigation system without an external reference drifts. Better inertial sensing extends the time a platform can navigate confidently when GNSS is degraded or denied.
The integration problem
Atom-interferometric instruments are historically laboratory-scale and vibration-sensitive; ruggedizing them for flight is a recognized open research problem, not a purchasing decision.
Relationship to STRIX
STRIX and PERCH define the platform and fusion context a future compact inertial payload would have to serve.
Not claimed
No drift-free or GPS-independent navigation is claimed; no quantum inertial sensor has been integrated or flown by DERECHO.
Modality 04
Illustrative motif, not sensor data.
What is measured
Gravity and gravity gradients, mass distribution expressed as acceleration, measurable in research settings by atom-interferometric gravimeters.
Why it may matter
Gravity is another un-jammable reference field. Airborne gravimetry is studied for map-referenced navigation aiding and terrain and subsurface characterization.
The integration problem
Separating platform acceleration from gravitational signal on a moving aircraft is among the hardest problems in the field.
Relationship to STRIX
A long-horizon candidate modality for the same payload-bay, isolation, and fusion architecture, studied, not scheduled.
Not claimed
No operational gravimetric navigation or subsurface-detection capability is claimed.
Modality 05
Illustrative motif, not sensor data.
What is measured
Time and frequency, held by atomic transitions, from chip-scale atomic clocks to higher-stability references.
Why it may matter
Precise, GNSS-independent timing is the quiet backbone of navigation, communications, and sensor fusion. When GNSS timing is degraded, a platform's own clock is what remains.
The integration problem
Clock stability degrades with temperature swings, vibration, and power constraints; distributing trustworthy time across a mesh of moving platforms is a system problem, not a component purchase.
Relationship to STRIX
Carriage of compact atomic references, with FORGEMESH studied as the distribution fabric for time and timing-confidence metadata.
Not claimed
No holdover performance figures are claimed, and no atomic reference is currently integrated on a DERECHO platform.
Modality 06
Illustrative motif, not sensor data.
What is measured
Light at very low intensity, down to single-photon detection, plus free-space optical techniques studied for sensing and precision ranging research.
Why it may matter
Photon-limited sensing supports low-light observation and is foundational to free-space optical and quantum-communications research relevant to the air-space link.
The integration problem
Pointing stability, atmospheric turbulence, and daylight background make airborne free-space optics a demanding engineering discipline of its own.
Relationship to STRIX
A candidate payload class for the air-space continuity thread that connects STRIX carriage to ASTERISM relay concepts.
Not claimed
No quantum-lidar, quantum-imaging, or optical-link performance is claimed.
One Discipline
Every modality above lands in the same architecture: carried by STRIX, fused by PERCH, moved by FORGEMESH, interpreted at the operator tier, and extended toward space through ASTERISM. That shared architecture, not any single sensor, is DERECHO’s work.
Research and integration architecture. No quantum payload has been integrated or flown; descriptions on this page are design intent for systems in development.
Quantum sensing, quantum communications, quantum key distribution, quantum computing, and post-quantum cryptography are distinct disciplines. DERECHO's work in this area is research and integration architecture for systems in development; descriptions reflect design intent, and no quantum capability, performance, certification, or compliance is claimed.