Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane visited the facility during his recent visit to Mhow. Source: Twitter
The Indian Army has set up a quantum computing laboratory and a centre for artificial intelligence (AI) at the Military College of Telecommunication Engineering (MCTE), Mhow in Madhya Pradesh for research in the aforementioned fields, the ministry of defence said in a statement.
“The Army, with support from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), has recently established the Quantum Lab at Military College of Telecommunication Engineering, Mhow to spearhead research and training in this key developing field,” the defence ministry said.
The Indian Army is making steady and significant strides in the field of emerging technologies, the statement from the ministry further read. The two centres will carry out extensive research in developing transformative technologies for use by the armed forces.
"Indian Army has also established an Artificial Intelligence (AI) centre at the same institution with over 140 deployments in forward areas and active support of industry and academia," the statement further read.
Training on cyber warfare is being imparted through a state-of-the-art cyber range and cyber security labs at this facility, the defence ministry said.
With the growing dependence of commoners and governments on digital and technology-driven systems, the country needs a robust and up-to-date infrastructure to combat potential cyberattacks, say experts from the field of cyber security.
The defence ministry said that the research undertaken by the Army in the field of quantum technology will help it leapfrog into the next generation of communication and transform the current system of cryptography to post-quantum cryptography. Post-quantum cryptography refers to cryptographic algorithms that are thought to be secure against a cryptanalytic attack by a quantum computer.
Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane visited the facility during his recent visit to Mhow.
The NSCS, which supported the defence ministry in setting up the new facilities in the MP-based college, is a government agency tasked with advising the Prime Minister's office on matters of national security and strategic interest.