The disruptive technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, is a trend with increasing applications and practical relevance in the current and future society. Despite the common interest in drones for commercial deliveries, the use of this disruptive technology can be examined in the contexts of other world strategic demands such as climate change issues and traffic management. As of very recently, some drone-related futuristic disruptive technologies, including quantum drones (QD), the Internet of Quantum Drones (IoQDs), and a constellation of quantum satellites (CQS), are expected to be a breakthrough technology in strategic areas of society. However, prior research has not adequately examined and explored the potential applications of these drone-related futuristic disruptive technologies for social concern. Therefore, this study investigates how QD, IoQDs, and CQS can be applied in new contexts in real-time applications in strategic areas of societal interest, especially during the quantum age. Overall, our results unveil new potential and advanced applications to drone-related disruptive technologies in recognized and new contexts. Two relevant implications are highlighted. First, this research inaugurates new contexts regarding the use of drone-related technologies enabled by the Internet in themes of economic and social concerns. Second, from a futuristic point of view, the study examines the main challenges, risks, and advantages of the practical use of these technologies. We conclude this research with a summary of the main gaps and scientific challenges to the field and propose opportunities for future research.
The disruptive technology of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, is a trend with increasing applications and practical relevance in the current and future society. Despite the common interest in drones for commercial deliveries, the use of this disruptive technology can be examined in the contexts of other world strategic demands such as climate change issues and traffic management. As of very recently, some drone-related futuristic disruptive technologies, including quantum drones (QD), the Internet of Quantum Drones (IoQDs), and a constellation of quantum satellites (CQS), are expected to be a breakthrough technology in strategic areas of society. However, prior research has not adequately examined and explored the potential applications of these drone-related futuristic disruptive technologies for social concern. Therefore, this study investigates how QD, IoQDs, and CQS can be applied in new contexts in real-time applications in strategic areas of societal interest, especially during the quantum age. Overall, our results unveil new potential and advanced applications to drone-related disruptive technologies in recognized and new contexts. Two relevant implications are highlighted. First, this research inaugurates new contexts regarding the use of drone-related technologies enabled by the Internet in themes of economic and social concerns. Second, from a futuristic point of view, the study examines the main challenges, risks, and advantages of the practical use of these technologies. We conclude this research with a summary of the main gaps and scientific challenges to the field and propose opportunities for future research.
Due to recent advancements in quantum drones, the Internet of Quantum Drones (IoQDs), and Drone-to-Satellite connectivity, several advantages have been anticipated for real-time applications. This work examines quantum computing issues, including quantum data processing, techniques, circuits, and algorithms important for quantum drones or their networks. Here, we discussed the current research trends on quantum computing, quantum-safe computing, or post-quantum cryptography important to quantum networks, followed by the numerous advantages, limitations, future advancements, and research issues connected with quantum technologies, drones, and their network. This work has also prepared a taxonomy of quantum-related areas depending upon the logic of their learning, followed by a review of each of these areas. We review the most recent work over quantum algorithms used in various-quantum-related areas and networks, the role of quantum satellites for drone-based networks and communications, how quantum artificial intelligence and quantum machine learning are important for quantum drones, networks and futuristic applications, quantum attacks, quantum genetic algorithms, and the importance of post-quantum and quantum-safe cryptography. The challenges and research directions in these domains are explored as well. Lastly, this work presents an overview of the current state of knowledge in various promising technologies that are recently found to be important for quantum drones and networks.
Quantum computing is revolutionizing computation and communication, with its integration into drones transforming agrotech and other industries. The Internet of Quantum Drones (IoQDs) enables ultra-secure communication, rapid data processing, and precise navigation through quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensors. This integration tackles challenges in intelligent farming, such as real-time decision-making, ecological complexity, and efficient data management. IoQDs support applications in precision agriculture, disaster management, environmental monitoring, and defense using quantum-based image processing and machine learning. This chapter explores advancements, case studies, and IoQD integration with 6G and satellites, ensuring low-latency global connectivity. Challenges—scalability, cost, hardware downsizing, and regulations are analyzed alongside potential solutions. A case study on IoQD-based weed detection demonstrates its agricultural potential. Future directions highlight quantum technologies' transformative role in drone networks across industries.
The advent of drones has significantly impacted military warfare, providing improved reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA), cost savings, increased convenience, safety, and flexibility. A layered network control architecture, known as the internet of drones (IoD), coordinates drone access to controlled airspace and offers navigation services. Various systems, including wireless sensor networks (WSN) and drones directed to an expanded controlling zone, integrate with IoD to improve connection performance. This paper provides an overview of the IoD and the internet of quantum drones (IoQD), highlighting key issues and potential solutions in applications and deployment. The IoQD provides primary features such as secure message exchange, fast communication processes, the viability of creating and deploying private IoQD, and enabling a new field of application, quantum well (QW). In conclusion, the advent of drone technology has significantly improved various aspects of military operations, including reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition. The IoQD offers a promising solution for military networks, facilitating the safe and expedited transfer of data, ultimately benefiting the entire military network.
Quantum computing in drone technology begins to show potential big time, especially in the possibility of data processing, communication, and how to bring operational efficiency.In this study, the integration of quantum algorithms on drone navigation systems to enhance their efficiency in terms of security and performance is being investigated.However, in the interest of full disclosure, it should be noted that quantum-enabled drones have not been built and tested elsewhere to get an insight from a practical standpoint. This research is based on simulations and hypothetical models, which show that quantum algorithms could improve the optimization of drone operations.A simulation performed showed that the mean path length of data transmission was shortened by 12.4%, both from source to destination and back, compacting the whole process and increasing speed while it decreased packet loss by an average value close to 75% — when compared with regular methods. High-density urban obstacle avoidance efficiency increased by 26.1%. Though these results demonstrate an impressive theoretical advantage, realizing practical quantum computing on drones has many challenges to be overcome such as miniaturization of hardware components, power consumption and environmental protection. Overcoming these challenges is critical for future explorations into what quantum-integrated drones can achieve.This article presents a holistic overview of the current status of quantum technological advances in drones and sketches out what constitutes crucial steps to make things turn from theoretical calculations to real-life operational systems. Accordingly, this study sets a new foundation for future advancements in this nascent field and offers solutions that could get one step closer to realizing ambitious visions of autonomous aerial systems across multiple domains.
Because of the abrupt increase in demand for security, researchers have developed immediate safety solutions that outperform state-of-the-art solutions. Data security was first sought for during the Spartan period. These days, efforts are being made to broaden this area of study by challenging the status quo and creating novel algorithms that outperform their weaker predecessors. Unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs, are widely used in a variety of industries, including agriculture, the military, healthcare, monitoring and surveillance, and many more, because of their svelte designs and adaptable mobility. In this post, we go over the significance of drone technology as well as its growth and demand. The study also discusses the current state of security concerns in real-time settings and how quantum cryptography outperforms conventional methods in protecting data. This inspires us to offer an overview of quantum cryptography's significance, function, and advantages in protecting UAV communications that go beyond 5G networks. Additionally, a unique layered architectural approach based on quantum cryptography is suggested to ensure excellent data security and effective transmission. A case study on the Internet of Military Things' implementation in the battlefield is also included in this presentation. The latency, security, and dependability of the suggested case study system are taken into account while assessing its performance.
Satellites and aerial platforms can be significant in the development of new telecommunications networks, allowing to deploy networks with extremely high performance even in remote areas. Recently, considering the development of quantum communication technologies, many studies are concentrated on Free Space Optic (FSO) Non-Terrestrial links, also considering that the studies performed so far on Optical Fibers (OFs) have not pointed out significant results, especially in terms of coverage. Moreover, the decrease of launch costs and the use of new satellite technologies such as CubeSats make the deployment of satellite constellations affordable. Thanks to the deployment of Non-Terrestrial Quantum Networks (NTQNs), the novel services offered by the Quantum Internet (QI) could be made easily accessible to all. In particular, Quantum Computers (QCs) can perform beyond the capabilities of any classical processor, and the interconnection of these devices on a global scale makes it possible to achieve extremely high computational capabilities, thus opening the way to new applications, such as Quantum Cloud (QCloud). Therefore, the recent studies in this area motivate this survey, which in addition to providing some base concept of quantum information, describes the current technologies needed to create quantum NT backbones. Specifically, this survey examines some studies over the period 2010–2023, which are related to the realization of quantum communications using satellites and other aerial platforms such as High Altitude Platforms (HAPS) and quantum drones. Some of the architectures that are described in this survey make use of the Software-Defined Networking (SDN) paradigm, which can be envisaged as a key enabler for the management of heterogeneous QNs in general. Furthermore, through the description of various experiments, the paper shows the applications that can be enabled by the future quantum NT backbones. In particular, in addition to improving the security of current systems through the Quantum Key Distribution (QKD), it could be possible to interconnect clusters of QCs over long distances and create extremely reliable positioning systems. Finally, the paper outlines some possible future developments.