January 7, 2022 | International, Aerospace, Naval, Land, C4ISR
Exportations d'armements : l'année fabuleuse de la France en 2021
La France a exporté pour environ 28 milliards d'euros en 2021. Un montant jam...
August 19, 2020 | International, C4ISR
US Army-funded research project makes inroads on scaling quantum processors
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the name of Sara Gamble, a program manager in quantum information science at the Army Research Office.
WASHINGTON — A research project funded by the U.S. Army has developed a new approach to manufacturing quantum computer chips, representing a significant step forward toward making quantum processors at the scale needed to deliver rapid processing capabilities to the battlefield.
The new approach could impact how the service builds quantum networks and distributed sensing capabilities.
Quantum processors use a qubit to store information. The researchers were looking to increase the amount of qubits placed onto a photonic chip. Prior to the experiment, researchers were only able to get two or three qubits into one photonic chip, said Sara Gamble, a program manager in quantum information science at the Army Research Office, an element of the Army Research Laboratory at Combat Capabilities Development Command.
“Currently we can exert control and successfully manipulate handfuls of qubits, like very countable numbers of them. But when it comes to the millions or billions of qubits that we need for applications of actual interest, how to get to those millions or billions of qubits is a major research challenge,” Gamble said in an interview with C4ISRNET.
In this study, researchers succeeded in integrating 128 qubits onto a photonic chip by making small quantum “chiplets” and placing them onto a larger circuit. The chiplets were able to carry quantum information through artificial atoms created by scientists by exploiting defects in diamonds.
The increase to 128 is a large jump, but well short of the thousands, millions or billions of qubits needed to successfully complete the applications the service sees as useful in the future. For example, qubits could be used for distributed sensing through networks of quantum systems on the battlefield to allow for greater situational awareness, though Gamble noted that quantum information science research is still in the early stage.
“We know that a lot of these qubit types are also excellent sensors. So for things like electric and magnetic fields, these quantum sensors can sense those fields ... with a higher sensitivity than you can get out of classical sensor,” Gamble said. “And then if you network those quantum sensor systems together, that increase you can get in your signal goes up even more.
“So we need those isolated qubit sensors. But then we also need a way for those qubit sensors to talk to each other over a quantum network.”
Being able to process data at quantum speeds would benefit the military as it seeks to make decisions based on large sets of data coming in from the battlefield in near-real time, and as it moves toward multidomain operations.
“It's a fundamentally different way to gather, process and share information,” Gamble said.
The research was completed by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Sandia National Laboratories.
The new technology still needs to undergo tests to ensure the qubits in the chip can be controlled in a way that would help the Army. Gamble said the research team is also considering how to automate parts of the production process.
“Thinking about how we can automate these processes to make them even more repeatable is going to be exciting,” Gamble said, “and something that's going to be necessary if you really want to do this for, you know, millions to billions of qubits instead of 128.”
On the same subject
-
-
July 16, 2018 | International, Aerospace
La Slovaquie va acheter quatorze F-16V
En optant pour le chasseur de Lockheed Martin, la Slovaquie ajoute un 28ème nom à la liste déjà très longue des pays utilisateurs du F-16 La Slovaquie a donc décidé de remplacer ses MiG29, hérités de l'ancienne Tchécoslovaquie, par la dernière itération du F-16, la version block 70, alias F-16V. La vente, approuvée par le département d'état américain, se monterait à un peu moins de deux milliards dollars, avions, équipements de maintenance, réacteur et radars de rechange, entrainement des équipages, missiles air-air, nacelles de désignation laser Sniper et sourire de la crémière américaine. Le F-16V a été choisi de préférence au Saab Gripen « parce qu'il coûtait moins cher et qu'il était disponible plus rapidement » ont indiqué les autorités slovaques. Celles ci ont également reconnu que le choix en faveur du F-16 était inspiré par leur volonté d'approfondir les liens avec l'Otan. Pas un mot en revanche sur la nécessité pour un pays de 5,4 millions d'habitants, enclavé entre l'Ukraine, la Hongrie, l'Autriche, la république tchèque et la Pologne, de se payer une poignée d'avions de combat neufs et hautement sophistiqués. https://www.aerobuzz.fr/breves-defense/la-slovaquie-va-acheter-quatorze-f-16v/
-
December 17, 2020 | International, Aerospace
Space Force selects new prototype consortium manager
Nathan Strout WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force has found a new manager for its expanded prototyping organization — the Space Enterprise Consortium — which will oversee $12 billion in awards for space-related projects over the next 10 years. The Space and Missile Systems Center's Space Development Corps selected National Security Technology Accelerator, known as NSTXL, to manage its SpEC Reloaded portfolio to adopt ever-evolving innovations before they're outdated. SMC expects to issue the award on Dec. 31, following a required 30-day congressional notification period. Launched in 2017, SpEC has doled out prototyping awards for everything from new ground systems to a Link 16-enabled space vehicle that shows the location of friendly and enemy forces. SpEC has reduced contract award timelines by 36 percent, grown membership by 55 percent year over year to 441 members, and awarded 80 prototype efforts cumulatively valued at $856 million, according to SMC. “There's no question that SpEC has been an overwhelming success for the government programs that have utilized it to accelerate their prototyping, and for the consortium members to gain a better understanding on the USSF's architectural direction,” said Col. Tim Sejba, program executive officer for SMC's Space Development Corps. Perhaps most importantly, SpEC provides an opening for nontraditional companies to begin working with the Department of Defense on space systems. SpEC helps connect vendors with organizations including the Space Rapid Capabilities Office or even the intelligence community's National Reconnaissance Office using other transaction authorities. OTAs allow “us to get on contract much faster than traditional approaches,” SMC head Lt. Gen. John Thompson said in November. “In addition, the vehicle really lowers the bar for nontraditional contractors to become part of national security space efforts, makes it easier for them to get in the door. In fact, 350 of those 430 members of the consortium are really nontraditional contractors or academic organizations.” The Space Force awarded the initial $100 million SpEC management contract to the Advanced Technology Institute in 2017 to manage the consortium through November 2022. However, the consortium's early success convinced the Space Force to revamp the effort with a significantly larger budget and an increased focus on cybersecurity. “We are honored to contribute to U.S. space advancement,” NSTXL CEO Tim Greeff said. “This has been a very successful program thus far, and we look forward to taking it to next level to unlock more value for the U.S. military by engaging more nontraditional defense companies and bringing great innovation to the nascent Space Force.” NSTXL also supports the U.S. Army's Training and Readiness Accelerator (TReX), the Navy's Strategic & Spectrum Missions Advanced Resilient Trusted Systems (S2MARTS), and the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) Energy OTA. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/12/15/space-force-selects-new-prototype-consortium-manager/