Geopolitical concerns in Asia have intensified, driving countries to bolster their border security and upgrade their military capabilities. With new and complex threats emerging, governments must invest in advanced defense technologies to maintain strategic stability and deter large-scale conflicts. The deployment and development of advanced military technologies is one of the key focuses. Surveillance largely contributes to situational awareness, fortifying defense and response time, making it the perfect tool for drones, AI-driven surveillance systems, cyber warfare capabilities, and anti-ship missiles. Such technologies enable countries to detect, prevent, and counter threats efficiently, thus making them essential in 21st-century warfare. In addition to the arms race in conventional defense, we're seeing increasingly base forms of international competition, particularly around advanced technologies like space-based reconnaissance, quantum encryption, and hypersonic weapons.Additionally, employing features such as AI surveillance systems, smart defense systems, and civil forces will be needed to stop wars before they happen. Governments must ensure they are attending to the urgent and game-changing elements, such as early-warning systems, predictive analytics, and automated threat response technologies that make for speedy and effective crisis management. It’s critical to tighten cybersecurity infrastructure, as cyberattacks against military and governmental networks are increasing. Modernization efforts for an agile and resilient military force require substantial investment in R&D and defense infrastructure. New developments in autonomous defense systems, robotics, and advanced missile systems are key pieces in deterring aggression and protecting national interests.
Geopolitical concerns in Asia have intensified, driving countries to bolster their border security and upgrade their military capabilities. With new and complex threats emerging, governments must invest in advanced defense technologies to maintain strategic stability and deter large-scale conflicts. The deployment and development of advanced military technologies is one of the key focuses. Surveillance largely contributes to situational awareness, fortifying defense and response time, making it the perfect tool for drones, AI-driven surveillance systems, cyber warfare capabilities, and anti-ship missiles. Such technologies enable countries to detect, prevent, and counter threats efficiently, thus making them essential in 21st-century warfare. In addition to the arms race in conventional defense, we're seeing increasingly base forms of international competition, particularly around advanced technologies like space-based reconnaissance, quantum encryption, and hypersonic weapons.Additionally, employing features such as AI surveillance systems, smart defense systems, and civil forces will be needed to stop wars before they happen. Governments must ensure they are attending to the urgent and game-changing elements, such as early-warning systems, predictive analytics, and automated threat response technologies that make for speedy and effective crisis management. It’s critical to tighten cybersecurity infrastructure, as cyberattacks against military and governmental networks are increasing. Modernization efforts for an agile and resilient military force require substantial investment in R&D and defense infrastructure. New developments in autonomous defense systems, robotics, and advanced missile systems are key pieces in deterring aggression and protecting national interests.
Quantum technology is an emergent area with the potential to be disruptive and ability to affect many human activities. Quantum technologies are dual-use technologies, and as such, they are the subject of interest for the defence and security industry and military and governmental actors. This report aims to review and map the possible quantum technology military applications to serve as the entry point for international peace and international security assessment, ethics research or military and governmental policy, strategy and decision making. Quantum technologies for military applications, introducing new capabilities, increasing effectiveness and improving precision lead to 'quantum warfare', wherein new military strategies, doctrines, policies and ethics should be established. This report provides a basic overview of quantum technologies under development where the expected time scale of delivery or utilisation impact are estimated. The particular applications of quantum technology for the military are described for various warfare domains (e.g., cyber, space, electronic, underwater warfare, or intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance), and related issues and challenges are articulated.
Abstract Quantum technology is an emergent and potentially disruptive discipline, with the ability to affect many human activities. Quantum technologies are dual-use technologies, and as such are of interest to the defence and security industry and military and governmental actors. This report reviews and maps the possible quantum technology military applications, serving as an entry point for international peace and security assessment, ethics research, military and governmental policy, strategy and decision making. Quantum technologies for military applications introduce new capabilities, improving effectiveness and increasing precision, thus leading to ‘quantum warfare’, wherein new military strategies, doctrines, policies and ethics should be established. This report provides a basic overview of quantum technologies under development, also estimating the expected time scale of delivery or the utilisation impact. Particular military applications of quantum technology are described for various warfare domains (e.g. land, air, space, electronic, cyber and underwater warfare and ISTAR—intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance), and related issues and challenges are articulated.
The rapid advancement of digital technologies, particularly the Internet of Things (IoT) and quantum computing (QC), is reshaping modern military operations by enhancing real-time data collection, autonomous decision-making, and situational awareness. IoT-enabled systems, such as UAVs, battlefield sensors, and smart logistics, provide military forces with operational superiority but also introduce significant cybersecurity risks, including espionage, cyber sabotage, and unauthorized access. The emergence of QC further complicates this landscape, as quantum algorithms can break traditional encryption protocols, threatening the security of military communications and IoT infrastructure. However, quantum technologies also offer revolutionary cybersecurity solutions, such as Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC), which leverage the principles of quantum mechanics to ensure secure communication. Despite these advancements, challenges such as the technological maturity of quantum solutions, high implementation costs, and global competition in quantum research pose obstacles to widespread military adoption. This chapter explores the interplay between QC and military IoT security, addressing both the vulnerabilities of IoT systems and the potential of quantum-enhanced security frameworks. By integrating quantum-safe cryptographic techniques, defence organizations can fortify military IoT infrastructure, mitigate cyber threats, and maintain strategic superiority in an era of increasing digital warfare.
The intersection of quantum technologies with the Internet of Military Defense Things (IoMDT) represents a transformative step in modern warfare and defense strategies. This paper explores the transformative potential of quantum-enabled IoMDT in next-generation 6G network infrastructures, focusing on applications at different levels of military communication and decision-making systems. We explore key areas such as quantum-accelerated data processing for real-time intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, quantum-assisted AI for autonomous decision making, and advanced quantum cryptographic methods to ensure secure and tamper-proof communications. The role of quantum computing in strengthening tactical infrastructure, including secure communications networks, optimising resource allocation and advanced command and control (C2) systems, and addressing significant operational challenges, including environmental sensitivity, integration with existing military systems, scalability, and the need for cost-effective quantum hardware solutions is also explored. Through case studies and detailed analysis, we provide insights into real-world implementations and outline the future directions required to fully realize the potential of quantum technologies in military IoT applications.
The article focuses on quantum technologies and the prospects for their application in the defense and security sectors. Based on an analysis of the current state of development of quantum technologies and their applications in defense and security, three main areas are identified: quantum computing, quantum communication, and quantum sensors. For each of these, a specific set of applications, advantages, and limitations is identified. It is noted that quantum computing in defense and security finds application primarily in four subfields: post-quantum cryptography, quantum cryptography, cyber threat detection, and cryptanalysis; quantum communication ensures secure information transmission by utilizing the physical properties of quantum states, particularly the principle of the impossibility of cloning a quantum state, with its primary practical application being Quantum key distribution and its promising application being the quantum internet; quantum sensors are the category of quantum technologies closest to operational deployment, as they utilize the hypersensitivity of quantum states to external disturbances to achieve measurement accuracy unattainable by classical devices. A summary of the main areas of application for quantum technologies in defense and security indicates that quantum sensors have the nearest practical implementation horizon (5–7 years), while quantum computing will have the greatest strategic impact on cryptographic infrastructure due to the threat it poses to existing asymmetric encryption algorithms—which is precisely why the transition to post-quantum standards is becoming urgent. Therefore, given the significant interest in and funding for quantum technologies from both the civilian industry and governments, it is expected that these technologies will continue to develop and new quantum applications will become available over the next five to ten years, and new advances in the development of quantum technologies may bring new opportunities for the military, but for the military to actually reap the benefits of new quantum technologies, they need to actively engage in this field and guide the development and implementation of military applications of quantum technologies.
In recent years, breakthroughs in our understanding of the physical and relational properties of the subatomic universe have coincided with major increases in state funding and commercial development of quantum science and technology. Initially distinguished by high levels of international scientific cooperation, a ‘quantum race’ is heating up across multiple sectors and between major powers, who recognise that technological prowess will be a key determinant of geostrategic, as well as economic supremacy in the 21st century. Quantum is seen as a critical emerging technology in this rivalry, with the potential for full-spectrum applications in warfare, including quantum computers that enhance the capabilities of AI and machine learning, improve the performance of lethal autonomous weapons systems and increase the capacity for analysing large datasets; quantum algorithms that break classical encryption while quantum networks provide completely secure communications; and quantum sensors that provide more sensitive detection, measurement and control of the physical environment. In a densely networked, information-saturated battlespace requiring accelerated decision-making, quantum computers, communications, control and artificial intelligence (QC3AI) has the potential to further reduce the human element in future warfare.