Page 32 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2021
P. 32

                   32   DEFENCE BUSINESS
OCTOBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
  LEFT: One of the advantages of quantum computers is their ability to solve optimisation problems
OPPOSITE PAGE: Q-CTRL founder & CEO Michael Biercuk
the launch. “We recognise that we need to act now in order to be an informed and a demand- ing customer.”
ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGE
The logistics challenge is considering how to most effectively plan the resupply of deployed units over the ‘last mile’. Three teams pre- sented solutions at QTC 2021, including NEC Corporation subsidiary D-Wave, the University of Melbourne’s Heuristic Algorithm Quantum Computing (HAQC) Team, and Sydney-based SME Q-CTRL.
At the event D-Wave demonstrated the use of hybrid quantum computing based upon its latest Advance computer, which customers can access via the company’s Leap quantum- based cloud service. The HAQC Team is de- veloping a combined approach which exploits the combined power of quantum computers and high-performance classical computers (HPCs), through a collaborative program with IBM’s Quantum Network. Q-CTRL’s demon- stration at QTC 2021 looked at the resupply of multiple distributed force elements from a central logistics hub, utilising unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs).
THE QUANTUM ADVANTAGE
Quantum control is defined as the control of physical systems whose behaviour is in turn defined by the laws of quantum mechanics and quantum computing. The use of quan- tum physics to encode and process informa- tion to solve problems that are otherwise extremely difficult, or even impossible, to
solve using conventional computers promises to deliver a tangible advantage to Army.
“Army is specifically interested in the applicability of quantum computing to the kind of problems that are rel- evant to them, in this case the logistics resupply problem, and we know that quantum computers can provide some very serious boosts in performance,” Q-CTRL founder and CEO Michael Biercuk explained.
“We don’t look at quantum computers as general-purpose computers, but as special-purpose machines that overcome real computational bottlenecks. We approached this prob- lem understanding very broadly that the frame of what Army was interested in for a Quantum Technology Chal- lenge was compatible with one of the known algorithmic approaches for executing programs in quantum computers.”
  SEEKING A
QUANTUM SOLUTION
TO ARMY’S LOGISTICS
CHALLENGES
As it looks for an edge in future warfare, Army has identified an initial three challenges it needs to address and is turning to quantum technology for solutions.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
IN ADDITION to a means of detecting subterranean struc- tures and the movement of humans and material through them and the ability to disrupt an adversary’s space-based communications systems, Army is seeking to optimise the future resupply of soldiers in battle.
Coincident with Army Innovation Day and Army Robot- ics Exposition in Brisbane in April, the inaugural Army Quantum Technology Challenge 2021 (QTC 2021) not only set out the initial three challenges for academia and industry, but also launched Army’s Quantum Technology Roadmap for the future.
“Quantum technologies are part of an emerging group of disruptive technologies that have the potential to drive significant change in the character of warfare,” Head of Land Capability, Major General Simon Stuart explained at
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