NATO announced on September 27, 2022, that two Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme projects involving Malta had delivered results in quantum communications and post-quantum cryptography. According to the NATO press release, an SPS project succeeded in connecting Italy and Malta with a prototypical quantum key distribution (QKD) link using submarine optical fiber cables for the first time.
A separate SPS-supported initiative demonstrated secure post-quantum cryptographic communication across five research groups based in Malta, Slovakia, Spain, the United States, and NATO Headquarters in Brussels. The groups communicated through a secure protocol that the announcement described as free from the risk of intrusion, even by an adversary with a quantum computer.
Both projects ran from 2018 to 2022. The Italy-Malta submarine QKD link, known as SEQIM, used existing telecommunications fiber infrastructure covering approximately 100 kilometers across the Mediterranean Sea. NATO’s 2022 Madrid Summit Strategic Concept, adopted the same year, recognized the role of emerging and disruptive technologies in shaping the Alliance’s future.