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To augment information secrecy, the Indian Army is focussing on leveraging Quantum Computing and is actively collaborating with the Industries and academia, who are the leaders in the field.
Top sources in the defence establishment informed that traditional computing and communications will be revolutionized when Quantum Computer is fully realized, which is an area of global Research and development (R&D) focus. "Complex data computations which involve the processing of voluminous structured, as well as unstructured data using advanced algorithms, will be enormously eased with Quantum Computing and its associated technologies," said sources. Indian Army is looking at this field of technology as a futuristic enabler for integrating a large density of C4I2SR components in the evolving battlefield, including sensors, communications platforms and information systems. Comprehensive data fusion and decision support capability will be securely delivered to Commanders at various levels, with minimum latency and maximum effect. Whilst Quantum Computing offers wide applications in the commercial domains, the Indian Army is looking at active collaboration with Industry as well as academia, to evolve effective applications for computing, communications and cryptography Indian Army has already taken the lead by way of establishing a Quantum Lab for evolving advanced concepts for applications and ushering further R&D on related technologies in collaboration with industry and academia. Information Warriors of the Army will be armed with the requisite knowledge which will facilitate in smooth induction of Quantum systems. One of the key applications of Quantum Computing is in the area of Information secrecy. 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 at to threaten sensitive systems of any country, thereby threatening national sovereignty in multiple ways. Therefore, 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 adversaries. Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) 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. 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. Complete safety against Quantum attacks requires addressing the last mile. The development and deployment of indigenous Post Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms is another area to focus on for Military Communications. While the country is aiming to achieve complete self-reliance in the field of Defence Communications, integration of PQC as an on-platform secrecy solution is required to concurrently evolve. While the QKD and PQC will facilitate quantum secrecy and will provide a considerable edge to Operational as well as Tactical Communications, there is a requirement to impart core impetus for the indigenous development of Quantum Computer. 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 centres with Quantum Computers. While national R&D is focused in this field, the Indian Army is closely watching the advancements made by their adversaries, to ensure that these vital capabilities are inducted into our Armed Forces well ahead of time. (ANI)
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