Australian-made quantum optical atomic clocks have passed critical tests in the United States, advancing efforts to develop cutting-edge defence capabilities under AUKUS Pillar II.
The six-week trial saw Australia and its AUKUS partners put four clocks from Adelaide startup QuantX Labs and the University of Adelaide through their paces in Washington DC.
QuantX Labs secured a $2.7 million contract to supply Defence with state-of-the-art clocks in September last year, in what was the first sale of its precision timing and sensing technology.
The clocks, which are important for navigation in GPS-denied environments, are the result of more than seven years of R&D that began at the Institute of Photonics and Advanced Sensing at the University of Adelaide.
Each clock tested in Washington DC was put under “various environmental conditions” to understand their potential for defence applications, including communication and navigation systems.
“This collaboration harnesses expertise and experience from AUKUS partners and leverages emerging technologies to deliver the capabilities our militaries need,” Defence Industry minister Pat Conroy said.
“Through AUKUS Pillar II, we are achieving capability development faster than any one of our nations could achieve alone.”
Quantum technology is one of several areas identified for experimentation and demonstration under AUKUS Pillar II, along with undersea capabilities, hypersonics and autonomous systems.
AUKUS partners have conducted a series of Pillar II-related trials since the trilateral security pact was signed in 2021, including one that tested whether AI could identify undersea threats more quickly than humans.
Speaking at Indo Pacific International Maritime Exposition on Tuesday, Defence’s acting first assistant secretary AUKUS advanced capabilities Kate Cameron said the AI trial involved testing three different algorithms from each nation.
“The way that worked practically is you would have an Australia AI algorithm, a UK AI algorithm and a US AI algorithm in sandboxes. And then they would look to use the strengths of each of those approaches to a AUKUS sandbox,” she said.
“What it meant is we could leverage the knowledge and skill of each of the three countries and develop an AUKUS algorithm that had the best of breed of each of those three countries…”
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