WEST PALM BEACH, Florida, May 19, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Quantum Cyber N.V. (NASDAQ:QUCY) ("Quantum Cyber" or the "Company"), a company assembling an AI-powered, quantum-accelerated System-of-Systems autonomous defense platform, today announced the filing of a provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for an Autonomous Distributed Naval Mine Countermeasure System. The filing, numbered 64/066-872, establishes a priority date for the Company's proprietary technology for autonomous detection and neutralization of underwater naval mines using unmanned aerial vehicle-deployed sensor and neutralization platforms.

The technology is directly relevant to an active and publicly documented military crisis. U.S. Central Command has confirmed that Iran has laid naval mines in the Strait of Hormuz following the outbreak of the 2026 Iran war. The Pentagon has issued navigational warnings describing the strait as "extremely hazardous due to the presence of mines that have not been fully surveyed and mitigated," and has directed commercial vessels to alternate routing through Omani territorial waters. President Trump ordered the U.S. Navy in April 2026 to destroy any Iranian vessels laying mines in the strait. The U.S. Navy's legacy mine countermeasure assets, including Avenger-class minesweepers and Littoral Combat Ships with MCM mission packages, are currently stretched across the theater, with several units having departed the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility for scheduled maintenance.

Quantum Cyber's patented system addresses this documented capability gap through a fully autonomous, UAV-based architecture requiring no personnel in the water. The system deploys semi-submerged survey pods from an unmanned aerial vehicle into the target area. Each survey pod conducts multibeam sonar scanning, magnetometer sensing, and hydrophone acoustic array analysis to detect and classify underwater mines with a probability of identification exceeding 85 percent in testing. A tethered UAV communications relay maintains persistent command and control connectivity between the survey pods and the ground control station throughout the operation. Upon target confirmation, the deployment UAV retrieves survey pods and deploys expendable influence-neutralization pods near confirmed mine locations. Each neutralization pod generates programmable acoustic signatures, three-axis magnetic field waveforms, and optional pressure impulse charges calibrated to trigger the influence fuzes of the targeted mines, achieving selective neutralization without collateral damage to surrounding infrastructure or vessels.

"Iran mining the Strait of Hormuz is one of the most significant maritime security crises in decades, and the U.S. Navy has publicly acknowledged a capability gap in autonomous mine countermeasures in the theater," said Peter O'Rourke, Board Member at Quantum Cyber "Our provisional patent filing establishes Quantum Cyber's intellectual property position in precisely the technology the U.S. military needs right now. This is not a future capability. This is an autonomous system designed for exactly this scenario: detecting and neutralizing naval mines without placing a single sailor at risk. We are actively pursuing engagement with U.S. defense procurement stakeholders and our platform is designed to be rapidly deployable to active theaters of operation."

The filing advances Quantum Cyber's growing patent portfolio, which now includes a provisional application for the autonomous naval mine countermeasure system and a non-provisional utility patent application for an EMP-shielding composite filament for UAV and UAS electronics protection. The Company's broader technology pipeline encompasses autonomous drone warfare platforms, counter-UAS perimeter defense systems, portable drone command and control systems, and quantum antenna communications technology currently in development, all assembled under a single System-of-Systems platform architecture.

The Strait of Hormuz carries approximately 20 percent of global oil supply and one-third of the world's liquefied natural gas trade. The Iranian mining of the strait has contributed to significant disruption to global energy markets and maritime commerce. The Trump administration is separately seeking approximately $55 billion for drone and autonomous warfare programs in the fiscal 2027 defense budget, the largest single-year autonomous warfare allocation in U.S. history, as military doctrine shifts toward AI-enabled unmanned systems for precisely these types of maritime and asymmetric threat environments.

About Quantum Cyber N.V.

Quantum Cyber N.V. (NASDAQ:QUCY) is assembling an AI-powered, quantum-accelerated System-of-Systems autonomous defense platform that integrates drone warfare, counter-UAS, autonomous naval mine countermeasures, EMP shielding, command-and-control, and quantum antenna applications under a single Nasdaq-listed company. The Company acquires, licenses, and develops combat-proven autonomous technologies, deploying them as a coordinated, multi-domain portfolio across air, land, and sea. Quantum Cyber draws on Israeli battlefield-proven systems and U.S. capital markets access to build the autonomous defense platform of the next generation of unmanned warfare. For more information, visit www.quantum-cyber.ai.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, including statements regarding the Company's patent applications and portfolio, anticipated defense procurement engagements, technology development timelines, revenue generation, and overall business strategy. The filing of a provisional patent application does not guarantee issuance of a patent. Such statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the Company's ability to execute on its business plan, the outcome of patent prosecution, the status and timing of defense procurement engagements, market and regulatory conditions in the defense technology sector, and other risks described in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Investor Relations Contact

Arx Investor Relations

North American Equities Desk

qucy@arxhq.com

Quantum Cyber Files Patent with USPTO for Autonomous Naval Mine Countermeasure System Addressing Iran's Mining of the Strait of Hormuz and Trump Administration Homeland Security Priorities