Quantum Computing for Mission-Critical Government Challenges
Learn how government organizations are exploring quantum to accelerate decision-making, strengthen national security, and optimize complex systems.
Defense, National Security, and Emergency Response Use Cases
Quantum computing supports faster and more informed responses in high-stakes environments by optimizing complex decisions across defense, security, and emergency operations. Improve speed, accuracy, and outcomes when it matters most.
- Missile Defense Planning: Huntsville, Alabama-based Davidson Technologies, Anduril Industries, and D-Wave developed a quantum-hybrid application to address complex air and missile defense planning challenges that extended the performance lead over classical-only approaches. Quantum-hybrid applications improved threat mitigation by 9–12%, delivered 10x faster solutions, and enabled interception of 45–60 additional missiles in large-scale simulations.
- Law Enforcement Resource Planning: North Wales Police in the United Kingdom successfully completed proof of technology that used a hybrid-quantum technology to optimize officer “forward deployment”. This initiative significantly improved efficiency, reducing planning time from four months to four minutes and cutting emergency response times by nearly 50%.
Real Results from Quantum Applications
10x
Faster Time-to-Solution
Davidson Technologies, Anduril Industries, and D-Wave developed a quantum-hybrid application that improved performance over classical-only approaches.
50%
Response Time Reduction
North Wales Police in the United Kingdom successfully completed proof of technology that used a hybrid-quantum technology to optimize officer “forward deployment”.
60%
Improvements in Efficiency
SavantX built a quantum-hybrid application to optimize Pier 300 at The Port of Los Angeles that increased the capacity and velocity of cargo movement at the port.
Quantum Systems for Transportation and Logistics Optimization
Early pilot projects and collaborations demonstrate how quantum-hybrid approaches may help improve efficiency, coordination, and resource utilization in dynamic, large-scale environments.
- Dynamic Port Logistics: SavantX built a quantum-hybrid application to optimize Pier 300 at The Port of Los Angeles that increased the capacity and velocity of cargo movement at the port. The in-production pilot increased efficiencies of crane delivery and utilization by 60% and reduced turn times for trucks.
- Multivehicle routing of autonomous systems for emergency response: The Australian Department of Defence worked with D-Wave and NEC Australia to develop a last-mile resupply quantum computing application, showcasing the ability to optimize autonomous vehicles that resupply forces. This is important for enhanced automation, a growing area for defense and emergency management.
- Wildfire Management: The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center developed a quantum-powered solution to prevent cascading wildfires through optimized fuelbreak lines with greater speed and efficacy. When a quantum-powered solution was deployed, it provided a much better equal distribution, improving the containment of wildfires.
Strengthening Supply Chains & Production Efficiency
Strengthening the Defense Industrial Base (DIB) requires faster, more efficient, and more resilient manufacturing operations. Quantum computing can help enable agencies and partners to optimize complex production processes, from scheduling and resource allocation to maintenance and supply chain coordination.
Ford Otosan, a joint venture between Ford Motor Company and Koç Holding in Turkey, simplified elements of its Ford Transit van manufacturing processes to reduce the scheduling time of 1,000 vehicles per run from 30 minutes to less than five.
GE Research (now GE Vernova) built a logistics management application that can ultimately help with preventive maintenance and scheduling repairs for equipment.
BASF, a multinational chemical producer, developed a proof of concept to optimize production assignment and scheduling for a bottling plant. The project reduced scheduling time from 10 hours to just seconds, dramatically increasing operational agility.
DENSO Corporation, a leading supplier of advanced automotive technology, systems, and components developed a proof-of-concept aimed at optimizing control of automated guided vehicles on their factory floors finding 15% efficiencies.
Defense Innovation with Gate-Model Quantum Computing
Gate-model quantum computing can enable new frontiers in research and development for defense and national security. These systems are being explored for a number of uses.
- Advanced Armor & Structures: Developing ultra-lightweight, high-strength materials to enhance vehicle protection and reduce weight.
- Energy Storage & Batteries: Designing next-generation, high-density batteries for electric military vehicles and long-endurance drones.
- Stealth Technology: Modeling materials that absorb radar or infrared signatures for improved stealth capabilities.
Exploring Approaches for AI, Data Intelligence and Cybersecurity
Annealing and gate-model quantum systems offer new approaches to addressing today's toughest problems. These capabilities may help organizations evaluate new ways to support data-driven decision-making in increasingly complex environments.
- Network Threat Detection: Utilizing quantum machine learning (QML) for detecting anomalies in network traffic has been a focus for some annealing applications. A large payments provider built a proof-of-concept to explore incorporating quantum-hybrid applications to innovate on feature selection, a critical step in building powerful models to fight sophisticated fraud.
- Energy Efficient AI Model Training Process: Shionogi, a Japanese pharmaceutical company, is using D-Wave’s advanced quantum computing solutions by incorporating samples from the quantum processing unit into a hybrid quantum-classical ML model to optimize the AI training process for drug design, with the goal of increasing the speed and quality of drug discovery.
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