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Quantum computing firm D-Wave and defense technology companies Anduril Industries and Davidson Technologies will work together on quantum-classical hybrid solutions for U.S. air and missile defense problems, the companies announced last week.

What they’re doing: The three companies collaborated on an initial proof of concept, using Anduril’s defense simulations, Davidson’s mission-domain modeling and secure-computing applications, and D-Wave’s quantum computing technology, according to the companies.

• They compared the performance of classical computing versus quantum computing performance on complex missile-defense planning scenarios.
• On three measures—quality, scalability and time-to-solution—D-Wave’s Stride hybrid solver (which combines both classical and quantum computing) took a clear lead over classical computing on its own. It was at least 10 times faster, mitigated the threat more effectively by 9–12% and intercepted an additional 45–60 missiles out of 500 in the attack simulation.

What they’re saying: “Our collaboration with Anduril and Davidson marks an important milestone in applying quantum computing to U.S. national defense strategies,” said D-Wave CEO Alan Baratz. “Our initial work together shows that annealing quantum computing can be put to use today for mission-critical applications, enabling faster, more informed decision-making for complex problems.”

• “Our partnership with Davidson and D-Wave looks toward augmenting advanced technologies through quantum by first pressure-testing the technology against real defense problems,” said Anduril President and Chief Business Officer Matthew Steckman. “Our work to deliver this capability and others like it to the warfighter is just beginning.”

Looking ahead: The three companies plan to extend their partnership into other domains, including scalable and distributed manufacturing and cyber defense.