Arqit signs a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with United States Air Force (USAF)

(Arqit-Cloudinary) Arqit Limited (“Arqit”), has signed a new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the US Air Force’s (USAF) Research Laboratory, Directed Energy Directorate, Space Electro-Optics Division.

The CRADA will demonstrate the interoperability and performance of Arqit’s QuantumCloud™ platform for defence use cases. When the Arqit platform is upgraded to include quantum satellites, the space-to-ground quantum encryption links will also be examined in order to prove the viability of high bit-rate global quantum encryption to the USAF and the Department of Defence (DoD) end-points.

Under the agreement, a variety of performance measures and interoperabilities will be examined to demonstrate and validate the contribution that QuantumCloud™ can make to DoD facilities. The expected outcome of the CRADA is to prove viable quantum encryption services from a commercial platform to DoD infrastructure for USAF and wider DoD use cases.

Commenting on the CRADA, Capt. Steven Long for the Air Force Research Laboratory said: “The planned collaboration with Arqit under this agreement will highlight the performance and configurability of the Research Lab’s ground to space quantum infrastructure. This opportunity provided by Arqit gives us the ability to demonstrate a quantum communications channel with a commercial partner and conduct various scientific research experiments at the same time. This is made possible by Arqit’s advances in practical usability of quantum encryption in the private sector. By forming a relationship, we hope to remain at the cutting-edge of quantum technology, and highlight the important relationships we have with our international partners and allies.”