Quantum computing firm Infleqtion is deploying a quantum computing lab aboard a UK Royal Navy vessel.
“At Infleqtion, we’re gearing up for an exciting challengetesting our quantum inertial sensor at sea with the UK Royal Navy,” the company said on LinkedIn last week.
Infleqtion will be deploying a mobile quantum lab it is calling a QPOD - a 20ft ISO shipping container - onto a military cargo ship for a multi-day voyage later this year.
The company will operate the system and see how it performs in real-world conditions as part of a test of quantum navigation technology and “GPS-free navigation.”
Details weren’t shared, but the accompanying image includes a logo for the Navy’s NavyPOD; a series of a deployable modular pods that can be interchanged depending on the mission needs.
The Navy revealed the NavyPOD concept back in 2021; pod (an acronym of (Persistent Operational Deployable Systems) options include; Command and Control, Above Secret workspaces, Logistics, Experimentation, Medical, and UXS (Unmanned Systems) operations and maintenance.
Founded as ColdQuanta and spun out from the University of Colorado in 2007, Infleqtion develops and designs instruments and systems for quantum technology applications. It is developing neural atom-based quantum technology and using rubidium-based atomic clocks for its positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) offering, known as Tiqker.
Infleqtion is working on the Quantum Enhanced Inertial Navigation Systems (Q-NAV) project awarded by Innovate UK to develop quantum technologies for PNT. The company has been working with defense contractor QinetiQ.
Lieutenant Colonel Scott Wallace RM, of the Royal Navy Office of the chief technology officer, said last year: “Partnerships and collaboration between industry and end-users are key to accelerating quantum technologies into mature and useable capabilities. While there is still a lot of hard work to be done, the early successes OCTO and Infleqtion are enjoying are indicative of the art of the possible when stakeholders share a common vision for innovation.”
Infleqtion previously said it was set to conduct a sea trial of the hybrid navigation systems on the Navy's XV Patrick Blackett experimental vessel in early 2025.
The vessel, christened in 2022 and named after Royal Navy veteran and Nobel Prize-winning British physicist Patrick Blackett, is used by the Royal Navy as a testbed for new technologies.
The Patrick Blackett is an adapted Fast Crew Supplier 4008 (FCS 4008), designed and built by Damen Group. Able to host up to 12 people, the ship will operate with a crew of five.
Imperial College London previously tested a quantum sensor for position navigation within a Qinetiq NavyPOD aboard the Patrick Blackett in 2023.
Infleqtion has previously sold one of its 3U-sized Tiqker atomic clocks to the University of Strathclyde, and deployed a quantum computer at the UK's National Quantum Computing Centre (NQCC) in Harwell.
