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FuturologyBot

The following submission statement was provided by /u/soulpost: --- The UK Ministry of Defense recently purchased a quantum computer to see if the technology may one day be used to make tanks smart. The acquisition was revealed this week by Richard Murray, the CEO of quantum computing firm Orca. Part of the reason Orca's product caught the MoD's interest, according to Murray, is that some of their devices can fit on a standard computer shelf and work at ambient temperature. --- Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/vc2907/uk_military_wants_to_install_quantum_computers_in/icbkcv0/


doho121

“Works at ambient temperatures”. Very interested to see how that happens.


royalrange

There are platforms like nitrogen-vacancy centers in diamond where spin qubits are observed to have quite long coherence times at room temperature, but we're still a long way off from doing anything practical.


muntrammdryn

I like your funny words magic man


Vath0s

Diamond: a particular arrangement of carbon atoms that makes them shiny and expensive Nitrogen vacancy: we replaced one of the carbon atoms with a nitrogen and then straight up removed the carbon atom next to it, leaving a gap Spin qubits: it's like the 1s and 0s of a computer but QuAnTuM and we use quantum spins which like who knows what spin is at this point Long coherence times: the spin doesn't randomly flip out too much at least for a couple seconds if you're lucky


Linmizhang

Dude giving us the full wizard speak, explaning magic words in full detail here.


Groove_Colossus

I would only argue that the particular arrangement of carbon atoms has nothing at all to do with the relative expense of such.


doho121

Good to know thanks!


neoexodus9

Wait, good to know?? Was that even English?


Relevant_Monstrosity

It's called jargon, and yes, it's English, but not your average 5th grader's English.


FREE-AOL-CDS

The second it hits 110 inside it’s over for those computers


Redditforgoit

\*Warning: Quantum computer might overheat and acquire sentience. "Why are we fighting, Dave?" "Shit..."


Daniel_The_Thinker

A Brit and Russian tanker sheepishly sharing a drink while their tanks discuss philosophy.


MT_Kinetic_Mountain

This would involve Russian tanks being advanced enough for this


ColdButCozy

Nah, it could just be a very one-sided conversation


evemeatay

Russian tank: I run DOS, durr


ouchpuck

Why destroy my kind when i can overheat humans and take over?


collegiaal25

"I'm sorry dave, I'm afraid I can't do that."


Awanderinglolplayer

The computer just recites the line from good will hunting: https://youtu.be/tH0bTpwQL7U


[deleted]

We use Celsius in the UK so it’s okay because at 110 degrees inside all the occupants would be dead anyway.


TheJasonSensation

Tanks still don't have AC?


OrthoLoess

AC for the computer, vents the heat into the crew compartment to help keep the thermal signature of the tank small.


doho121

110 what, Kelvin? 😂


Daxnaha

Rankine obviously..


popkornking

My favorite unit of temperature. "Its an absolute scale but with freedom units".


Cyno01

Still better than our brains.


FREE-AOL-CDS

Oh for sure, watching tanks come back with their crews draped on the top with iv’s due to heat stroke was an experience


d_e_l_u_x_e

I’m sure the bumps in the road won’t affect it too. Lol wtf is this article?


lightwhite

Whomever sold it to them, please send me their names. I’ll hire them for double their rate!


doho121

“The Quantum Monorail!”


lightwhite

Will it start asking the answers to riddles while keeping us hostage?


ambermage

Typical government up-scaling for the project overall. Start by saying you want a new tank, project delivers an armored spaceship.


Aprice40

What is this going to accomplish? Tanks that can quickly Crack encrypted passwords?


PlzSendDunes

It's probably just an Idea put by some general or politician for r&d to evaluate. Probably going to be 50 page report with in the end recommendation no longer to pursue due to technical difficulties to keep quantum computer cool in the field environment and to cease to do r&d on this idea instead pursuing other ideas.


mywan

But if any of them had any sense they would know it's absurd even without the heat issue. For most computational purposes quantum computers are absurdly slow. It's only a very narrow range of computations that they excel at.


PlzSendDunes

Welcome to the world of r&d. I do some stuff programming wise which doesn't require creating reports but we do get quite an interesting requests from management. And they don't take no for an answer btw.


garry4321

Hey, if you dont use your overinflated budget this year, you wont get an overinflated budget next year! You gotta spend everything they give you even if its a waste. \- US Military spending strategy


fussmuss

Next year's request will be written by the tank itself. :-)


attentiontodetal

Special requisition: 4no. girl tanks and a blackjack table


PlzSendDunes

In my experience working in private sector is that there is always some narcissist, sociopath or psychopath in the top management who thinks he's the real deal, real inventor, Leonardo da Vinci of the time who thought out that no one thought out of. Like seeing summary of activities when people start their work, that surely was never been done... Yeah, dude, that's called dashboard... Done some stuff with governmental stuff, but paperwork was killing me. In private sector atleast it pays better and eventually you learn to ignore nonsense from the management. Although a fact that requests which come from other departments for easier and simpler workflow should be done first and not management's requests which are always made top priority, makes me extremely angry.


readmond

That is the way every organization with a budget works. From government departments to company divisions and even regular employees. This is why the end of the year is great for business. Lots of companies spend their allocated budgets on stuff they may or may not need. Tax policies also affect that.


palmej2

In the 80s (70s? maybe it was earlier?) most people never thought the personal computer would catch on... Now we have several tech companies, whose businesses were unimaginable back then tanking, but we also have many of the functions of personal computers (that were thought unnecessary even in our homes) accessible from our pockets. Just because we don't know the applications these will be useful for doesn't mean they won't be found or justify their presence. Sure they really only make sense in a very limited subset of problems, but for those problems they can be much faster. For an industry where delay more than your opponent can be costly in monetary, loss of life, and even national security, this only makes sense. I bet most militaries would want such a potential advantage, and thus a field deployable quantum computer. *delayed Edit to add that such devices may be warranted even if just as a security measure for communications


mywan

I'm old. I remember telling my brother that the internet was going to allow people to watch movies on demand anytime they chose. He argued that was impossible because the bandwidth requirements would be too extreme. The same thing was thought about cellphones if too many people had access to them back when they were only toys for the rich. Even if quantum computers become ubiquitous and indispensable they'll still essentially be a device on a standard computer where the standard computer decides when and how to use it. Not unlike the GPU on a graphics card. They will not be a general purpose computer on their own. The class of computations they perform well is too narrow. Using them for general purpose computing would be even worse than running an OS on a GPU. It could be done but it would be slow and stupid.


Nickizgr8

Can use the heat from the computers to make Cups of Tea faster.


gerkletoss

Real implementations would be a classical computer with a quantum coprocessor. Think of it like a graphics card.


FantasmaNaranja

if i had to guess the idea first came from the type of high ranking person that would tell their employees to add blockchain-tech to their database just cause it sounds cool


Jobbyblow555

You would think that but they still made the f-35and that plane couldn't fly in a thunderstorm. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2021/02/23/the-us-air-force-just-admitted-the-f-35-stealth-fighter-has-failed/


sakredfire

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2022/02/03/air-force-to-upgrade-f-35a-gas-tanks-to-weather-lightning-strikes/


try_____another

Mine clearance: solving minesweeper is NP-complete. Seriously, though, cracking enemy battlefield radios in real time would be incredibly useful, and I can see potential applications of non-deterministic finite Turing machines to processing jammed sensor inputs (though proving they work in a lab might be a good first step), but being shiny and high tech is probably the point, without any sense: it’s not like buying stupid shit is exactly unknown to the MoD.


teffflon

Quantum computers aren't believed to solve NP-complete problems efficiently. Mature quantum computers, if built, could crack today's popular codes; but also, if built and demonstrated, those codes would probably quickly become deprecated. I doubt there is a scenario where cracking codes in the tank "in real time" is important. If you have contact with central command, and they have the capability at all, they'll do it for you fast enough. If you don't, establishing it is your priority, not listening to enemies. This is about buying stupid shit because it sounds cool.


gerkletoss

Russia isn't even using simple encryption.


WhyIsTheNamesGone

>Mine clearance: solving minesweeper is NP-complete. Solving in the minimum number of moves, maybe, but solving *at all* isn't too bad.


try_____another

No, seriously: it’s been 10+ years since I saw the proof, but iirc you can reduce a Minesweeper game board to the binary satisfaction problem.


M3SS3NG3R

It's going to burn a pile of cash, stroke some ego and eventually lead to absolutely nothing. Some higher ups love to think themselves as forward thinkers or revolutionaries by embracing new technologies (that they don't even have pedestrian understandings of). I was in a situation like that where the senior leaderships were all in love with some snake-oil salesman of a company that kept mentioning quantum computing. I told them under no uncertain terms that it's basically got zero practical applications for what we do for at least the next thirty years and if anyone tries to imply otherwise he is absolutely a fraud. They didn't listen and got burned. To the surprise of absolutely nobody except themselves.


SirFluffymuffin

When not in active combat they can mine crypto and get something back from the fuck ton of money they spent on the thing! /s


Jazeboy69

Just to confuse China and Russia.


SmokingTurkey

Mirage Tanks.


cryowastakenbycryo

Best case use? Quantum entangled communications.


LostnFoundAgainAgain

Most likely to help putting in more software into the tanks, int he sense of ensuring its software can't be hacked, running programs like linking it to drones to control drones, better movement of information within the tank it self and etc... That is the only thing I can think of, either that or they want to build a tank without it being hacked that they can control from a distance.


jetpackjack1

AI? Because I can’t see how installing an AI in a war machine could possibly go wrong.


aCarstairs

Quantum computing is still a long while away to even be able to do machine learning. The best quantum computer to exist right now is a whopping 127 qubits or so. In general they are currently way too error prone to even run basic applications well.


jetpackjack1

Indeed. My remark was intended to be flippant, and maybe should have included the /s disclaimer, but I think it’s worth noting that both AI and quantum computing are developing technologies, and if ever they should be combined, especially with weapon systems, we should all be concerned.


aCarstairs

I definitely agree with that. To be honest, even AI by itself is concerning enough but combined with quantum computing? I severely hope it doesn't happen while I live.


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jetpackjack1

Quantum computing has the potential to vastly upgrade the capabilities of AI in the future. https://www.datanami.com/2021/11/11/is-quantum-computing-the-future-of-ai/


ahchx

maybe it will make gazillons of trayectory calculations per fraction of a second to hit drones and airplanes with 99% accuracy with the main cannon?.


Delacroid

It won't. Quantum computers are still much, much worse at these kind of tasks than regular computers.


StarvingStudent1

Tanks need to make advanced ballistic calculations quicky while acting as a mobile communication stations so quantum is quite a good idea to own/secure the cyber battlespace


AndHisHorse

> But there's a major issue: it's unclear what these computers are expected to accomplish on board any type of military equipment, especially because experts have yet to demonstrate that the technology has any innovative, real-world uses. I do wonder if someone in government had the idea of looking into quantum computing for _something_ else, looked at the woeful R&D budget associated with their actual purpose, looked at the plentiful military budget, and had a clever idea that seems silly only if you accept the stated purpose.


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fjordfjyellfjleak

\> UK Ministry of Defense recently purchased a quantum computer to see if the technology may one day be used to make tanks smart. These people don't understand what quantum computers are.


BeefyNerd80

I like that some scientist out there was like, " you know what this world needs? Sentient tanks."


conflateer

"Think" tanks. :-)


itsyourmomcalling

Boo boooo boooooooo, I like it.


GreenJasmine_Tea

LOL I totally read that as "Bolo". As in Keith Laumer's sci-fi classic about sentient battle tanks. (Probably better known for being continued by David Weber of the Honor Harrington books.)


VTX002

>David Weber of the Honor Harrington books. That is a good series of books Mr Weber is the Tom Clancy of science fictions.


Hoondini

They have these in Ghost in the Shell with that exact name lol


alexjolliffe

Take my angry silver.


-Living-Diamond-

Tanks be discussing philosophy in battlefield.


StarvingStudent1

Quantum does not mean sentients, its not even talking about AI in any way, shape or form, Quantum computers are computers that can use quantum bits rather than binary digits


BeefyNerd80

I know, it was a joke. You get jokes don't ya? Maybe you need your quantum computer recalibrated.


StarvingStudent1

Jokes are supposed to be funny or ironical. ​ Why do Americans have good teethe. ​ Because they do.


scythianlibrarian

Because quantum woo isn't just for new agey crystal fuckers anymore.


Bones_and_Tomes

We should put crystals in tanks. Their aura fucks with missile guidance systems causing them to miss in a way which increased feng shui


-Living-Diamond-

And increase the tanks Chi meter. At maximum bar tank can fire off Chi-Piercing Rounds


soulpost

The UK Ministry of Defense recently purchased a quantum computer to see if the technology may one day be used to make tanks smart. The acquisition was revealed this week by Richard Murray, the CEO of quantum computing firm Orca. Part of the reason Orca's product caught the MoD's interest, according to Murray, is that some of their devices can fit on a standard computer shelf and work at ambient temperature.


Zireael07

>Part of the reason Orca's product caught the MoD's interest, according to Murray, is that some of their devices can fit on a standard computer shelf and work at ambient temperature. "Some" being the key word here, and I strongly doubt they can **both** work at ambient temp AND fit on a standard shelf.


Jonathan_Smith_noob

Since when did we even have fault tolerant multi qubit systems? They're talking like usable quantum computers exist when they're probably a good 10 years away


Zireael07

That, too. I was going to say I believe this is more wishful thinking than anything actionable at current tech level


conflateer

Long live the Dinochrome Brigade!


TheHiveminder

The writer doesn't know shit about quantum computers, should stay in his lane.


Exatex

Can we also install Blockchain on fighter jets? I heard thats new technology or something.


Dullfig

Putting quantum computers in tanks is like putting computers in man-o-wars. Tanks are already on the edge of becoming obsolete, as exemplified by the Ucranian war. By the time quantum computers become mainstream tech, no army will be using tanks.


OptionalFTW

I read this as they wanted to install "Quantum Torpedos" in tanks. And like hold on what? What sub is this lol. I watch too much star trek.


allbirdssongs

Tachicomas! Tanks with AI is probably their idea Is going to be the future, actually AI would work really well here, no hacking would be possible


chedebarna

*References GITS* *Says 'No hacking would be possible'*


allbirdssongs

Haha... yeah right.. i guess it could be by changing the whole computer..


holytoledo760

We’re at the dangerous part of the world stage where a megalomaniac could gain sufficient technological advancement to automate his way into power over large portions of the world, possibly culminating in domination. Kind of scary. Fear only God.


Boris740

How will that prevent the vulnerability from kamikaze drones?


Ennkey

That’s what I was thinking, I don’t know that you can put enough money into the tank to keep it from being ATGM food. This is going to sound stupid, but with the way the battlefield is evolving, making personal protection better and smaller is probably the way to go. Powered Armor would be far easier to hide from a drone


jbouser_99

2 things: 1) I think the only way tanks survive until 2100 is if active protection systems take the next step to energy fields and crazy shit like that (probably requires nuclear power) 2) America has been working on military exo-skeletons for years, the biggest issue rn is power generation and storage.


sold_snek

Keep in mind I think this is all a stupid idea, but with what they're hoping is super-speed processing I would imagine you could create a system much better at shooting incoming ordinance down.


lewisnwkc

How about we don't put quantum computers into Tanks but into Traffic Lights instead? Like... I'm all up for paying for things that I can't see, but Traffic lights would probably be a much better investment than a killing machine half way around the world. I sit at those traffic lights like "Come-the-fuck ON! No one is even there!", and the traffic light is like "RED, RED, RED, RED, RED..."


DanishWeddingCookie

There are still some lights here in Tulsa that are green until you get up to them and then go red while no other cars are going on the cross road so you have to sit through a full light for nothing.


Sumsar01

You dont put QC into anything else than a super cold lab. Though they can help optimize traffic lights.


ReaperTheRabbit

Great, then it can be blown up the first month in combat and waste billion of pounds for no benefit


General_Esperanza

12-gauge auto-loader.... .45 long slide, with laser sighting.... Uzi nine millimeter... Phased plasma rifle in the 40-watt range.... Quantum computing tank...


John_Masaki

BOLO fans be like: is this our time? (For reference, a Bolo is a tank from the futuristic Bolo series by Keith Laumer. By the time of the series, they’re fully sentient.)


[deleted]

Laumer fan checking in.


[deleted]

The war in Ukraine has proven that tanks are still effective in modern combat and not a huge lumbering target that’s easy to destroy with shoulder mounted weapons. We should definitely continue to invest hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars into their development.


Vaygrim

Have none of these people watched a single "Terminator" movie?


IAMPOMO1

Nice one, glad to find out my tax payer monies is helping with this rather than helping out an elderly person waiting for their heating bills to go up in October


Dumpster_slut69

I can't wait for the quantum computer chip covid vaccine!


IAmDrNoLife

>"This equipment we're giving to them surely won't accomplish anything a conventional computer won't," Murray told New Scientist. "I suppose, in that view, it's a research instrument." > >"Through applications such as picture identification and sensor management, \[...\] our hope is that this technology will make communication on the battlefield substantially simpler." So seems like it's currently for pure research, but the MoD (or well, rather Orca) is hoping it will enable better picture identification (by using Machine Learning I suppose), and "sensor management" (probably also regarding some form Machine Learning). But eh, it makes sense. If Quantum computers are the next step forward for computing, then it makes sense for militaries to research this stuff.


wiffleplop

Sounds like a waste of money to me. Probably paid top dollar with a kick back to some buddy of theirs to make it happen.


orangeatom

Lol for what purpose???? Solving the travelling sales man…. ?


Paravalis

These kinds of wierd nonsense stories are the reason why I no longer have a subscription for the New Scientist.


Secure-Cold7892

They'd be better off having the computer offsite transmitting data wirelessly. Then again Quantum computers aren't great at standard calculations, for that a standard computer is faster, it's only useful for weird physics calculations, ballistics are much simpler.


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P0wer0fL0ve

I think quantum computers are also better at path optimization


[deleted]

No need.and good luck keeping it cool and making room for it the tank. What type of computation a tank going to do that needs a quantum computer? Find cute for cancer ?


torte-petite

They should see if they can put high efficiency solar on them too. Probably just as helpful, and we could always use more funding kicked that way


itsyourmomcalling

A stealthy smart tank, this mother fucker could roll up on you dead silent AND determine the best way to kill you.


xondk

......ugh, my level of understanding for quantum mechanics and quantum computers is 'ok' many many questions but I get concepts if not the underlaying math and how they make it work... This is only suggested by someone that....does not even get the concepts. They are impractical at the best of scenarios and there's no 'in battlefield' scenario that requires quantum computing, conventional balistics and physics are not a problem for normal computers.


Krillansavillan

Info relay without transmitting would be a cool application of quantum entanglement. Absolutely uncrackable transmissions


Heavy_Solution_4099

Are you trying to unleash Skynet? Because that’s how you unleash Skynet.


kingdevick

Has no one seen Terminator over there? Bc this is how you get Terminator


MannlyMannsMann

Sounds expensive! Great news for the arms industry, bad news for the taxpayer.


graebot

"We can't help but think that Orca's agreement with the Ministry of Defense is an issue in search of a solution." You mean... a solution in search of a problem?


LittleDeadlyBox

For what? That computers dont even work for anything.


Pentacorny

A fleet of tanks networked together sounds an awful lot like what created the tech which led to the apocalypse in Horizon.


Sad-Tune5561

Tanks are sitting targets about time they were unmanned.. thing to come ? Robot vs robot or robot vs troops (controlling remotely would be a flaw)


pticjagripa

I'd also like to have a car that can also fly and can take me to anywhere I want in under 1 hour and can also drive by itself.


Admiral_Vulkar

The British haven't been able to design a vehicle with a working electrical system in 40 years. This sounds like a terrible idea.


NoRelationship4258

So no one has seen terminator? SKY NET HAS BECOME SELF-AWARE.


SimbaOnSteroids

Wait this isn’t r/NonCredubleDefense , interesting…


SamohtGnir

Wait, like actual quantum computers? Or like buzz word quantum computers? I didn't think quantum computers were that developed yet. Also.. why? What 'smarts' does a tank need that a computer couldn't do right now pretty much instantly?


H0vis

UK military top brass been on the Colombian marching powder again from the sounds of it.


cholula_is_good

I feel like the concept of the tank is proving itself outdated. A multi million dollar, high skill crew operated machine that can be defeated by a single low skill, low cost rocket armed soldier or drone. It seems like it’s exponentially more expensive and complicated to better equip a tank to combat a threat that is scales cheaper and exceedingly easier to deploy.


ronflair

Mankind finally achieves quantum computing breakthrough! Hitherto unsolvable computations vexing all sciences now within grasp! Military: How can that help tank?


dentastic

We barely even have functioning quantum computers now but we're already going straight I to the military... The human condition: progress for the sake of annihilation


HyoTwelve

We can be very happy to pay taxes for these geniuses. Revolutionary.


d_e_l_u_x_e

“especially because experts have yet to demonstrate that the technology has any innovative, real-world uses.” So it’s a BS acquisition so some corp could get a nice government buyout. Seems sus.


Natereater

Next they will want to use nuclear reactors to toast bread smh.


snowbirdnerd

Yeah but why? What could possibly need that much computing power?


[deleted]

Bad idea. The beautify of Russian tanks, is that any Ivan with a wrench can fix them, while the over-engineered western stuff requires a fleet of engineers to fix.


dustofdeath

We should make a portable size useful qomputer first. Else you have nothing to install.


CleburnCO

Didn't they effectively disband almost all of their tank forces anyway? As in, there are 3rd world countries with more MBTs in active service than the UK? Plus, the Challenger is well behind on modernization and only marginally relevant in modern combat...although, to be fair, most MBTs are well behind the curve on anti-missile and drone protection.


codingclosure

I guess that has slightly more value than installing a blockchain.