Page 34 - Australian Defence Magazine October 2021

34 DEFENCE BUSINESS
OCTOBER 2021 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
RIGHT: A soldier talks to a HX77 operator prior to a scenario-based field deployment activity during the Exercise Neptune Squadron 18 at Greenbank Training Area.
the classical optimiser, the compilation strategy (and) the hardware implementation of quantum logic, the success probability went from 1.3 per cent to 88 per cent –that’s an 80-times gain using the combined approach.”
NEXT STEPS
While the problems addressed in the initial demonstration were relatively small, it is hoped that wider Army logistics problems can be solved in the future, particularly in the light of hardware roadmaps now being set by large manu- facturers such as IBM and Google.
“Quantum computers at present are in the prototype stage and don’t give useful performance. They’re too small and fragile to give useful solutions, and that’s a threshold we call ‘Quantum Advantage’, when you would actually use a quantum computer instead of the best supercomputing solution, (but) we’re not there yet,” Biercuk said.
Quantum computer system size is measured in qubits (quantum bits), which are the fundamental carriers of quantum information. The computers of today have, on av-
erage, 50 qubits, but a size of around 400 qubits is thought to be the threshold for the aforementioned quantum ad- vantage. Under the industry roadmaps, system size looks likely to increase to 1000-cubit machines within the next five years.
“What we’re ultimately aiming for is a solution that al- lows anyone in Defence to gain access to useful quantum computing for the problems they care about. We aim to build this infrastructure software that delivers the results we’ve demonstrated to the end user, so they can use it themselves,” Biercuk concluded. ■
INSPIRING OUR VETERANS &
TRANSITIONING MEMBERS TO
EXPLORE SELF-EMPLOYMENT.
Prince’s Trust Australia run a free Enterprise programme dedicated to our Veterans & transitioning members.
Email us at events@princes-trust.org.au www.princes-trust.org.au
Zach Briggs, RAAF Veteran, Enterprise alumnus and founder of Relic Design and Craft Co.
DEFENCE