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However, he also states that real-world deployment faces severe technical barriers-notably cryogenic cooling requirements, limited range beyond 10 kilometers and long signal integration times-making it currently impractical for operational use.

Similarly, Heather Penney mentions in a January 2024 paper for the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies that quantum radar faces technical constraints such as decoherence, low photon return rates, and environmental noise, which makes real-world performance unreliable.

Penney says that while the system attracts strategic interest, it remains a laboratory curiosity rather than a deployable capability.

In addition to those points, Edward Parker mentions in an October 2021 RAND report that current prototypes remain laboratory-scale, limited by fragile entanglement and cryogenic requirements. Parker adds that until recently, quantum radars were only capable of tracking the target's distance from the receiver, but not its direction or speed.

He notes that quantum radars cannot track target direction or speed using the Doppler effect, as conventional radars do. Due to those drawbacks, he states that quantum radar will not provide upgraded capability to the US military, concluding that despite China's reported advances, it remains a speculative, long-term prospect, not a deployable technology.

Such disadvantages may have influenced the US to pursue alternative short-range detection technologies. For instance, The War Zone (TWZ) reported in January 2025 that the F-22 would receive infrared search-and-track (IRST) systems, a proven passive sensor technology that detects targets in the infrared spectrum regardless of their stealth features, even in a heavy electronic warfare environment.

But even if quantum radar has significant limitations and may still be in the prototype stage, it could significantly bolster a layered sensor network. A quantum radar node, if fielded, would act as an additional source of detection data that stealth aircraft might find hard to evade. The combination of sensors can compensate for each sensor's gaps, creating a counter-stealth ecosystem.

For instance, space-based optical sensors can be used to detect stealth aircraft. In December 2021, a B-2 bomber was photographed on Google Maps – showing that while stealth aircraft can evade radar and possibly thermal sensors, it is nowhere near invisible in broad daylight.

Showing the potential military application of that concept, Clayton Swope mentions in a January 2024 Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) article that China's Yaogan-41 satellites, operating in geostationary orbit, offer persistent optical surveillance across the Indo-Pacific.

Swope says that with a resolution potentially as small as 2.5 meters, it can identify car-sized objects, including airborne assets. He adds that, unlike radar, optical sensors are less affected by stealth coatings and shaping. By continuously monitoring airspace, Swope states that Yaogan-41 can detect movement patterns, contrails, or thermal signatures of stealth aircraft.

He adds that when paired with AI algorithms trained to recognize anomalies, China can automate detection and tracking, with this data cuing low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites or other platforms for higher-resolution imaging or targeting, enhancing China's ability to monitor and respond to aerial threats.