Singapore military to explore quantum computing for mission planning

The Singapore Armed Forces’ (SAF) Digital and Intelligence Service (DIS) and the Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) have teamed up with IBM to explore the use of quantum computing for complex mission planning, starting with logistics. Under the tie-up, DIS and DSTA engineers will work with IBM specialists to develop and evaluate quantum optimisation approaches for a representative mission planning problem, with cloud access to IBM's quantum computing resources and support from the company. The goal, according to Singapore's Ministry of Defence (Mindef), is to build indigenous quantum expertise and assess whether quantum approaches can eventually outperform conventional methods on selected planning processes. “Quantum computing has the potential to transform…