DRDO-IIT Delhi Places Nation at the Top of Future War and Cybersecurity

In a colossal leap towards indigenous development and next-generation defense readiness, India has successfully tested quantum entanglement-based secure communication—a historic feat under joint leadership by DRDO and IIT Delhi. The test was conducted over a free-space distance of over one kilometre at the DRDO-Industry-Academia Centre of Excellence (DIA-CoE) on the IIT Delhi campus, bringing India at the forefront of quantum-secured communication and future war-fighting capability.

This technology is a quantum entanglement-based next-generation communication protocol rather than the traditional prepare-and-measure quantum key distribution (QKD) approach. Entanglement-based communication has ultra-high security—any eavesdropping on the message disintegrates the quantum state and notifies the sender and receiver simultaneously. It also obviates the requirement of costly optical fiber networks, hence allowing us to safely communicate even in far-flung or city war theaters where installation of infrastructure is not feasible.

The experiment demonstrated a secure key rate of approximately 240 bits per second at a quantum bit error rate of less than 7%, paving the way for possible real-time applications in military-grade cyber security, long-distance QKD, and eventually the building of a full-scale quantum internet.

This work is based on previous Indian achievements: Vindhyachal-Prayagraj intercity quantum link (2022) and a 100-km fiber-based QKD demo (2024). All these are part of DRDO's strategic initiative under its string of 15 DIA-CoEs in premier institutes.

The project, "Design and Development of Photonic Technologies for Free Space QKD", has been approved by DRDO's Directorate of Futuristic Technology Management (DFTM) and was spearheaded by Prof. Bhaskar Kanseri's group at IIT Delhi. DRDO leadership's cream of the crop in the person of DG (MED, COS & CS) and senior IIT Delhi faculty observed the demonstration.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has described the accomplishment as a "game changer in future warfare," highlighting its significance in driving national security and technology sovereignty. DRDO Chairman Dr. Samir V. Kamat and IIT Delhi Director Prof. Rangan Banerjee also seconded the opinion, describing the milestone as a turning point for India's future in defence innovation along with leadership in quantum technology.