IBM and Lockheed Martin unveiled a Swiss Quantum Innovation Hub at ETH Zurich on September 10, 2026, anchored by Switzerland's first IBM Quantum System Two — hosted at the Swiss National Supercomputing Center (CSCS) in Lugano and powered by IBM's most advanced Nighthawk processor. The partnership is structured as an industrial offset agreement with armasuisse, Switzerland's Federal Office for Defence Procurement.
Switzerland's first IBM Quantum System Two
The system, slated to come online at CSCS by the end of 2026, gives ETH Zurich a dedicated Swiss quantum machine. Organisations that join the innovation hub through ETH also get immediate access to IBM's global fleet of quantum computers over the cloud, mirroring the way the IBM Quantum Network already serves labs across the US, Japan, Korea and Germany.
Research runway: sensing, additive manufacturing, workforce
In an extension of ongoing collaboration, IBM and Lockheed Martin plan to initiate joint research projects with select Swiss academic institutions covering quantum sensing for navigation and additive manufacturing, along with Swiss education, workforce development and industrial applications. The programme dovetails with Lockheed's broader quantum sensing push and IBM's roadmap toward fault-tolerant quantum computing.
Europe races to anchor sovereign quantum capacity
The Swiss deal lands in a busy month for quantum. On September 8, IonQ unveiled its sixth-generation Superion 256 platform, and Jülich brought Eleqtron's trapped-ion JION online. For Switzerland, the hub cements a sovereign quantum foothold alongside Germany, France and the UK — timing that aligns with rising European sensitivity to non-domestic AI and compute infrastructure.
Reporting based on coverage from IBM Newsroom, HPCwire and The Quantum Insider.