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<\/a><\/p>\nTo that end, Sanders convened four leaders working at the frontiers of quantum and AI transformation: Enrique Lizaso of Multiverse Computing, Andrei Dragomir of Aquark Technologies, Rob Flanders of BAE Systems, and Edwin Bowden-Peters of MBDA.<\/p>\n
A Dual Challenge: Competing and Securing<\/p>\n
Rob Flanders, Head of Threat and Incident Response at BAE Systems, described a defense environment shaped by what he called a \u201cdipolar threat landscape.\u201d He pointed to active conflict on NATO\u2019s borders and long-term strategic competition with China as defining pressures.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo we\u2019re faced with a literal war on the border, combined with a much longer term geostrategic threat that essentially sits behind lots of the technologies that we\u2019re looking at, discussing and adopting today,\u201d said Flanders. \u201cSo I think it\u2019s from our perspective, very much a dipolar threat landscape that we need to be aware of and be concerned about.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flanders said that emerging capabilities like AI-assisted quantum systems demand rigorous assurance before being fielded. \u201cIn defense, high assurance isn\u2019t optional,\u201d he added, explaining that engineers must know the provenance of data that trains AI systems.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cIf you put garbage in, you might well get garbage out \u2013 and that\u2019s the last thing you want on a strategic program,\u201d Flanders added.<\/p>\n
Quantum Sensing and the Return of Deterrence<\/p>\n
For Andrei Dragomir, founder and CEO of Aquark Technologies, quantum sensing is already transforming how NATO nations approach navigation, timing, and infrastructure resilience. His company, the first quantum investment of the NATO Innovation Fund, builds compact cold-atom clocks and sensors that work in GPS-denied environments.<\/p>\n
Dragomir said that the key advantage of quantum sensing is its ability to \u201ccollect good data rather than bad data\u201d \u2013 eliminating noise at the source rather than filtering it afterward. That accuracy, he argued, underpins both deterrence and resilience.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, having that technology and using it in a proper way can definitely be like the next bow and arrow of defense,\u201d said Dragomir. \u201cIt\u2019s also an indirect capability, where if you can navigate in GPS denied environments, eventually your enemy is going to stop spoofing your GPS, because it\u2019s pointless, and therefore you can still rely on the existing infrastructure that you would otherwise have relied on today, and I think it\u2019s going to have a huge impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
He forecast that deployable quantum navigation systems could begin scaling within 12 to 36 months, emphasizing collaboration as essential to success.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s collaboration that is absolutely essential at this point in time,\u201d said Dragomir. \u201cThere\u2019s no single player that can build towards a vision like this by themselves. We need to have our doors very, very open.\u201d<\/p>\n
Europe\u2019s Quantum Investment Gap<\/p>\n
Enrique Lizaso, CEO and co-founder of Multiverse Computing, offered a candid view of Europe\u2019s position in the quantum race. His firm develops hybrid quantum-AI algorithms for banks, defense manufacturers, and governments. Lizaso argued that Europe\u2019s problem is not talent or ideas, but financing and regulation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the technology, maybe even better,\u201d said Lizaso, adding, \u201cBut the way to convert \u2013 to transform \u2013 that into something which is more than that, by which I mean create companies that are big enough \u2013 is a different way. This is a financial problem at the very, very, very core of the situation, particularly in Europe.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also pointed to new defense applications of AI model compression, including lightweight multimodal neural networks that can run on small devices and recognize objects in the field. However, he warned that overly restrictive data-use rules could delay such innovations.<\/p>\n
Bridging the Gap Between Labs and Battlefields<\/p>\n
Edwin Bowden-Peters, UK Technology Watch Lead at MBDA, underscored how innovation is accelerating beyond traditional defense boundaries. \u201cAccess to technology has been completely democratized,\u201d he said, noting that tools once confined to military labs are now commonplace in consumer electronics.<\/p>\n
MBDA, which has invested directly in Aquark, is testing new models of collaboration with startups. Bowden-Peters recalled that Aquark caught his team\u2019s attention when they demonstrated a ruggedized quantum device that could be carried rather than confined to a lab bench.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey cared about it being ruggedized and real world and so immediately we knew that they cared about the same things as us,\u201d Bowden-Peters said. \u201cAnd so then what we did is we funded an experiment, and we said, can we push this further?\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that defense must increase its risk appetite for performance \u2014 but never at the expense of safety. \u201cIf you come second in war, someone doesn\u2019t go home,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why we have to test to extremes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Investing Before It\u2019s Too Late<\/p>\n
General Sanders closed with a reminder that defense spending is not an indulgence but an insurance policy. In 1936, he noted, the U.K. spent 2.9% of GDP on defense; by 1939, that figure had risen to 10%, and by 1945, to 50%.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sums we\u2019re talking about today\u00a0 \u2013 half a percent, one percent of GDP\u00a0 \u2013 are nothing,\u201d he said. \u201cPrevention is a hell of a lot cheaper than cure.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Insider Brief Senior defense leaders and technologists at The City Quantum & AI Summit in London said quantum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[371,1403,30703,111,139,69,145,65338],"class_list":{"0":"post-85957","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-computing","8":"tag-computing","9":"tag-defence","10":"tag-nato","11":"tag-new-zealand","12":"tag-newzealand","13":"tag-nz","14":"tag-technology","15":"tag-the-city-quantum-and-ai-summit"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}