Our enemies are targeting our comms networks, Marine general says, and we need a quantum fix
A Marine general warns US military communications are vulnerable to new threats.
Quantum communications could secure sensitive data on unclassified networks.
Quantum tech is evolving but remains costly and complex for practical use.
US military communications are vulnerable, and Marines know the outcomes can be deadly if the enemy gets its hands on data once thought to be secure.
"We've got to figure out a way to get the promise of quantum communications in place," said Lt. Gen. Stephen D. Sklenka, who serves as the Corps' Deputy Commandant, Installations and Logistics. Sklenka, along with Army and Navy logistics leaders, spoke as part of a panel on combat logistics Thursday during the Modern Day Marine expo.
With the rise of new threats to communications, leaders can't just count on shifting to different networks to guard information, he said, explaining that he wants to see networks become "undecryptable" by adopting a tech that's still in its infancy but seems poised to profoundly change warfare: quantum communications.
Secure quantum communication offers unparalleled protection of sensitive communications by giving them unbreakable encryption, but that capability is still being developed.
"We all operate predominantly on the unclass net," Sklenka said, referring to the defense department's unclassified network.
While the "secret" information is distributed through an entirely different network, many sensitive details, including unit and personnel information and equipment data, can be shared on unclassified networks, making it a very desirable target for enemy penetration.
"That's a vulnerable network. We know that our adversaries are in there," he said.
It's still early days for emerging quantum tech, which also includes quantum computing and quantum sensing.
A 2021 study estimated the level of tech the defense department would find most useful is still years away from development, though US companies like IBM, Amazon, and Google are racing to harness the nascent tech.
The rapidly evolving field remains deeply technical, expensive for researchers to work on, and not yet particularly useful for anyone outside certain circles.
What's on the horizon: a new era of super-computers that can dramatically outpace current systems in yet unknown ways that will likely transform society— including military operations.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, DARPA, is paying attention too. The military research and development agency has ongoing quantum initiatives, including one that is focused on achieving utility-scale quantum operation by 2033 and others focused on research to build parts required for quantum computing.
Part of the quantum transformation will inevitably include encryption methods, which researchers already know are set to become obsolete in their current state.
"Anything that's internet-connected will likely have problems," said Karl Holmqvist, the CEO of Lastwall, a cybersecurity provider of quantum resilient technology used by the DoD, in an interview with Business Insider earlier this year.
The dramatic changes posed by quantum technology will certainly play out in the national security sphere, from financial markets to battlefields for Marines, all as the DoD grapples with remedying other major issues that could impact how it fights a war, including a too few ships and lagging shipbuilding capacity, drone adoption, retention, and more.
"I've got to figure out how to make it so the bad guys can't figure it out, so even if they capture that data, it's garbage to them," said Sklenka. But at the same time, he said, US forces still need to able to use the networks, and share that information with allied militaries that US troops may be fighting alongside.
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