On November 4, 2025, Australia’s Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy announced that four Australian-developed quantum clocks had been successfully trialled in the United States under AUKUS Pillar II. According to the defence ministry media release, the six-week trials in Washington, D.C., saw Adelaide-based QuantX Labs and the University of Adelaide each contribute two quantum clocks for testing by AUKUS partners at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
AUKUS partners evaluated the devices under various environmental conditions to assess their performance and potential for defense applications, including communication and navigation systems. QuantX Labs developed a portable optical atomic clock using rubidium with a patented two-color, two-photon approach, while the University of Adelaide built a portable optical atomic clock using warm ytterbium vapor.
Conroy stated that “through AUKUS Pillar II, we are achieving capability development faster than any one of our nations could achieve alone.” The clocks were developed through A$2.7 million (approximately US$1.8 million) in Australian defence contracts, in conjunction with the Defence Science and Technology Group. Outcomes of the trial will be shared among all three AUKUS partners. The release noted that quantum technology was identified as a priority in Australia’s 2024 National Defence Strategy.