China’s military says it is using quantum technology to gather high-value military intelligence from public cyberspace.
The People’s Liberation Army said more than 10 experimental quantum cyber warfare tools were “under development”, many of which were being “tested in front-line missions”, according to the official newspaper Science and Technology Daily.
The project is being led by a supercomputing laboratory at the National University of Defence Technology, according to the report, with a focus on cloud computing, artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
Advertisement
Commanders hope that quantum computing will allow them to process large amounts of battlefield data within seconds, helping them to make decisions and allocate resources.
Quantum sensing and positioning technologies could also improve air defences by detecting stealth aircraft that conventional radar systems may miss.
Advertisement
The technology could also be used to create highly accurate navigation systems that are resistant to spoofing or jamming.
An unnamed officer told the newspaper that “speed and change” were the main considerations in developing new cyber weapons.
