The Indian Army is set to possess advanced quantum communication technology, thereby joining an elite list of nations with indigenous quantum tech. The new technology will equip troops with a high-end secured defence system.
The technology, developed by QNu Labs, a Bengaluru-based deep tech start-up, will help in modern-day war fare as the communication channel created using the Quantum Key Distribution (QDK) system is non-hackable, according to the defence ministry.
“A QKD system allows the creation of a quantum-secure secret pair of symmetric keys between two end points, separated by a certain distance [in this case, over 150 km] in a terrestrial optical fibre infrastructure. The QKD helps create a non-hackable quantum channel for creating un-hackable encryption keys, which are used to encrypt critical data/voice/video, across the end points,” the ministry said in a statement.
After the successful trials, the Indian Army has initiated the procurement process of QNu Labs’ developed QKD systems by issuing a commercial Request For Proposal (RFP), the ministry added.
Defence Secretary Ajay Kumar, buoyed by the developments, termed the innovation of indigenously QKD technology as a “milestone achievement” in ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Kaal’ and a befitting success story of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Like other advanced militaries, the Indian Army is actively exploring this technology as an enabler to fuse a large density of data and decision support capability to securely deliver communication to troop leaders at various levels.