The 15 September 2021 joint AUKUS announcement by the leaders of Australia, United Kingdom and United States included this paragraph: “Recognising our deep defence ties, built over decades, today we also embark on further trilateral collaboration under AUKUS to enhance our joint capabilities and interoperability. These initial efforts will focus on cyber capabilities, artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, and additional undersea capabilities.”
The primary quantum technologies (the application of quantum physics into real-life applications) could give the three nations’ militaries a distinct advantage over other countries when it comes to remote navigation, stealth, and intelligence.
The integration of quantum technologies currently represents one of the most anticipated advances for armed forces, yet their precise impact remains difficult to predict. Although economic applications are now increasing, there is little doubt that they will have a disruptive effect when they are employed more widely.
In May 2018, the head of quantum computing at technology firm Intel suggested that ‘if 10 years from now we have a quantum computer with a few thousand qubits, that would certainly change the world in the same way the first microprocessor did’. (A qubit, or quantum bit, is the basic unit of information in a quantum computer, analogous to a bit in a standard computer.)
Quantum technologies are leveraged by the vibrant quantum science, technology and innovation capability across Australia to develop technology solutions of relevance to Defence. Through partnership with industry, academia and government research agencies, Defence aims to understand the potential of quantum technologies, create prototype systems, and demonstrate the practical application of quantum systems to Defence problems.
Quantum technology includes military applications in metrology, simulation, imaging, sensing, timing, stealth, computing, weapons, communications, data encryption and breaking encrypted messages.
This is an excerpt from APDR. To read the full story, click here.
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