June 10, 2022

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has acquired the government’s first quantum computer thanks to a partnership with British company Orca Computing.

The MoD will work with Orca to explore applications for quantum technology in defence, and the Ministry will also work with Orca’s small PT-1 quantum computer which Orca says is the first of its kind to be able to operate at room temperature.

Orca’s quantum computer uses photons or single units of light, to optimize machine learning tasks like image analysis and decision-making.

Stephen Till, who works for the MoD’s Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), calls it a “milestone moment” and said access to Orca’s quantum computers will speed up the MoD’s understanding of the technology.

Orca chief executive Richard Murray described the company’s partnership with the MoD as a “significant vote of confidence.”

“Our partnership with MoD gives us the type of hands-on, close interaction, working with real hardware which will help us to jointly discover new applications of this revolutionary new technology,” said Murray.

The sources for this piece include an article in BBC.