Military Embedded Systems

Quantum tech for DoD to be developed by IBM and AFRL

News

July 11, 2019

Emma Helfrich

Technology Editor

Military Embedded Systems

Quantum tech for DoD to be developed by IBM and AFRL
Graphic courtesy of Wright-Patterson Air Force Research Laboratory.

ROME, N.Y. The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is embarking on efforts to partner with industry, academia, and the Department of Defense (DoD) to apply quantum information science to U.S. Air Force concerns and ensure capabilities.

 

AFRL has formally joined the IBM Q Network, the first partnership of its kind in the DoD. This will provide AFRL and its collaborators with access to commercial quantum systems to explore practical applications relevant to the Air Force.

The partnership will allow AFRL to work alongside IBM researchers and other select collaborators to investigate relevant Air Force problems on actual hardware that may yield a "quantum advantage" over conventional computing.

Early applications include optimization problems, speed-up of machine learning algorithms, and quantum chemistry simulation.