What is quantum computing?
Quantum computing borrows elements of quantum mechanics to solve the problems that other computers struggle with. It’s a game changer, as a quantum computer can solve complex problems much quicker than a standard computer. Furthermore, for very large data sets, a quantum computer will not only deliver faster results but it also scales more favourably. Thus, it should come as little surprise that quantum computing is attractive for an engineering and defence firm like Thales.
Until recently, Thales’s work in the quantum space has been focused on academic engagement – working to help connect university research to commercial application. We’ve been looking at quantum computing algorithms alongside UK universities, supporting University Quantum Hub Advisory groups and collaborating with University College London on mission planning for example.
Thales also has a strong connection with the quantum supply chain – typically smaller companies that spin off from university research groups – and as the technology advances, we are talking to these businesses about the future application of quantum.
The Ministry of Defense’s (MoD) Science and Technology Lab (Dstl) is also very active in quantum computing. As a prime defence supplier, quantum computing is becoming increasingly central to Thales’s own innovation strategy. In the defence sector, for example we can use quantum computing to consider a set of reconnaissance drones operating over multiple sites, where a quantum computer could enable far more complex strategies than were previously impossible. So, we are currently road mapping to understand how quantum technology can be used across our own Business Lines and which products can be enhanced with quantum computing.
Verifiability is about ensuring that something – a system and every element connected to it – does what it is intended to do.
Sensing is one prominent area of Thales’s business where quantum offers big potential. Whether measuring time, position and navigation or exploring areas such as magnetic fields or novel imaging techniques, quantum sensors enable us to measure things with more accuracy and sensitivity. Ultimately, they enable us to do the same things with smaller, cheaper and less power-hungry sensors.
Here, an example is our collaboration with UCL and Strathclyde University. We’ve been working on a magnetometer sensor, which is now being developed by Thales’s maritime business as a future maritime sensor. We also have an active research program in France which is currently looking at quantum sensing hardware and the physics of those sensors, along with how to make them. In this sense, Thales is driving the quantum sensing hardware of the future.
Aside from sensors, there are other key areas where Thales’s work crosses with quantum computing. In secure communications in defence and civil sectors for example, there’s Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) – a cryptographic scheme which can't be broken. Another area garnering much interest is Quantum Safe Cryptography (or Post Quantum Cryptography) – a new set of cryptographic algorithms designed to mitigate the threats posed by quantum computers once they reach scale.
So quantum computing clearly offers exciting new opportunities for Thales to develop our own products. Perhaps more crucially, we are helping to drive the application of quantum computers across national defence and security.