New Delhi: Quantum technology can be the magic mantra for a much better and more secure means of transferring data from one place to another. No wonder, the Indian military establishment is riding full steam on this niche area as part of its modernization effort to leapfrog into next-generation communication.
Spearheading the effort is a newly-set up 'Quantum Lab' in the secured premises of the premier Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Mhow, in Madhya Pradesh, where most of the work is being done towards providing impregnable security of the military communication network on one hand and to acquire cutting-edge offensive capabilities on the other.
The role of the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS) has been pivotal in setting up the Quantum Lab. "There is an urgent requirement of replacing traditional cryptography with quantum-safe and quantum-resistant cryptographic methods. While Quantum secrecy is a national interest, military information systems, which are currently based on hardware-based crypto platforms relying on mathematical computational complexity, will render operational information vulnerable to Quantum attacks by an adversary," a top source in the country’s defence establishment said on Thursday on condition of anonymity.
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"Traditional cryptographic systems will be completely or partially cracked with Quantum computers in a matter of minutes. Such a military capability will be a massive weapon so as to threaten sensitive systems of any country, thereby threatening national sovereignty in multiple ways," the source added. The Indian Army is looking at Quantum technology as a futuristic enabler for integrating a large density of C4I2SR components in the evolving battlefield, including sensors, communications platforms, and information systems.
C4I2SR stands for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Information, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance. Detailing the strengths of quantum technology, the source said, "Comprehensive data fusion and decision support capability will be securely delivered to Commanders at various levels, with minimum latency and maximum effect."
"Fielding of QKD systems is expected to replace traditional backhaul secrecy with QKD, enhancing capacities of communication systems with enhanced cost efficiency as well as complete automation of key delivery," the source said.
QKD or Quantum Key Distribution involves the generation of highly advanced secrecy keys which can be effectively employed towards securing backbone networks. Since massive OFC infrastructure has already been created through Project NFS which has a pan India spread covering the entire Defence Network, the Indian Army is already prepared to embrace QKD on the infrastructure front.
Futuristically, as the communication systems and applications evolve and integrate more and more systems, the core processing will need to be replaced in the Defence Data centers with Quantum Computers.
