DRDO Completes Military Field Trials of Indigenous Quantum-Secure Communication System

India has taken a major step towards securing its strategic communication networks against future cyber threats after the Defence Research and Development Organisation successfully completed military field trials of an indigenous, fibre-based Quantum Key Distribution system.

Developed by DRDO in partnership with Bengaluru-based Taqbit Labs, the system is designed to create and distribute highly secure encryption keys across critical communication networks. The technology has progressed from a laboratory proof of concept into a productised system evaluated under military field conditions, bringing India closer to the deployment of large-scale quantum-secured defence networks.

Quantum Key Distribution, commonly known as QKD, uses particles of light called photons to exchange encryption keys between authorised locations. Any attempt to observe or intercept these photons changes their quantum properties, creating detectable errors in the transmission. The communicating stations can identify such interference and discard the affected key before it is used to secure sensitive information.

The technology protects the exchange of encryption keys rather than carrying the military message itself. Once a secure key has been generated, it can be supplied to conventional encryption systems protecting voice communications, operational data, surveillance imagery, intelligence reports and command-and-control traffic.

The development has gained strategic importance as advances in quantum computing could eventually weaken several mathematical encryption methods used today. Sensitive military information may retain its value for decades, creating the risk that encrypted data collected now could be stored and decrypted in the future using more powerful computing systems. QKD offers an additional security layer based on the principles of quantum physics.

The latest field trials indicate that DRDO and Taqbit Labs have moved beyond controlled demonstrations towards equipment that can be manufactured, installed and operated across defence networks. A practical military system must function alongside existing fibre-optic links, encryption devices and network-management platforms while maintaining reliable key generation despite signal losses, environmental variations and disturbances in the communication line.

DRDO said the achievement lays the foundation for large-scale, multi-hop quantum networks. Such networks connect several quantum-secured fibre links through protected intermediate nodes, allowing secure keys to travel across distances greater than those supported by a single direct link. This architecture could eventually connect military headquarters, intelligence centres, airbases, naval establishments, missile facilities, defence laboratories and strategic data centres.

The programme builds upon earlier Indian advances in quantum communication. DRDO previously demonstrated QKD across a fibre link in Hyderabad, supported an inter-city quantum communication link between Vindhyachal and Prayagraj and worked with IIT Delhi on free-space quantum-secure communication. The latest military trials add a deployable and scalable field system to these technological achievements.

Taqbit Labs’ participation also highlights the growing role of Indian private industry in strategically sensitive defence technologies. Quantum communication equipment requires specialised capabilities in optics, single-photon detection, precision electronics, cryptography, secure software and network integration. Domestic development gives India greater control over system architecture, upgrades, maintenance and long-term supply security.

A mature QKD network could protect fixed strategic links carrying operational plans, intelligence material, targeting information and other classified data. Fibre-based systems are particularly suited to permanent military installations, while future free-space and satellite-based quantum links could extend protection to mobile formations and geographically dispersed commands.

Quantum Key Distribution will form one part of a layered security architecture that also includes post-quantum encryption algorithms, hardened network equipment, access controls and continuous cyber monitoring. The successful field trials nevertheless represent a decisive step from scientific research towards practical defence deployment.

By combining DRDO’s research capabilities with Taqbit Labs’ product-development expertise, India is building an indigenous foundation for communication networks capable of protecting national-security information against emerging threats in the quantum era.

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References

Defence Research and Development Organisation. “DRDO Successfully Completes Military Field Trials of a Scalable Fibre-Based Quantum Key Distribution System Developed with Taqbit Labs.” Official DRDO announcement, July 2026.
https://x.com/DRDO_India/status/2077044398370730345

DRDO. “DRDO Completed Military Field Trials of a Quantum Key Distribution System.” Video, July 2026.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm7gPK0zHac

Press Information Bureau. “Quantum Communication between Two DRDO Laboratories.” Ministry of Defence, December 9, 2020.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1679349

Press Information Bureau. “DRDO and IIT Delhi Demonstrate Quantum Entanglement-Based Free-Space Quantum-Secure Communication over More Than One Kilometre.” Ministry of Defence, June 16, 2025.
https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2136702

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