Defence agency DSTL testing gadgets that could be a quantum leap in sub detection

BRITISH military research scientists are testing new gadgets that would allow them to detect enemy submarines using quantum technology, which measures distortions of the Earth’s gravitational field.

Experts at the Defence Science Technical Laboratory (DSTL) are experimenting with quantum clocks, using new tech they say might be able to replace traditional timekeeping and navigational instruments.

One example shown to The Daily Telegraph is a strontium optical lattice clock, which measures the passage of time by counting the vibration of atoms.

Quantum scientist Dr Matt Himsworth, of DSTL, explained that these types of clocks are so sensitive that merely raising or lowering their height above the Earth has a measurable effect on them.

He said: “They’re so sensitive now that they can measure tiny fluctuations in gravity.” Minute changes in gravity caused by a large object passing underneath the clock would be enough to alter its readings, he said.

Naval expert Chris Parry, a former commander of the navy’s Amphibious Task Group, said the quantum clock technology could be used to detect enemy submarines in a similar way to current methods, which rely on picking up magnetic fields.

He said: “It would act in a similar way to a magnetic anomaly detector – which enables detection through anomalies in the Earth’s magnetic field.”

DSTL’S quantum research, carried out as part of the National Quantum Programme, aims to take laboratorygrade scientific equipment and turn it into practical gear for use by industry and the armed forces alike.

Other items being examined by the DSTL quantum lab at the organisation’s Porton Down headquarters include quantum accelerometers, which Dr Himsworth said can be used to replace current Gps-based navigation technology.

Quantum clock-based sensors are not quite ready for sending to sea, as DSTL principal scientist Dr Susannah Jones explained.

She said: “If you are trying to detect gravity, that’s a fundamental force.

“You have to shield [the sensor] from all of the other forces to a high degree of accuracy.”

Current tech can only achieve that accuracy under lab conditions – and requires a laboratory-sized setup instead of something small and portable.

DSTL said it has contributed to fund- ing 70 quantum-focused Phds at universities across the UK as part of the national drive to find new military and commercial uses for quantum technology.

Earlier this year, quantum scientists from the University of Birmingham scored a world first after using a quantum gravity gradiometer to detect a hidden underground tunnel. The occasion marked the first time a quantum gradiometer had successfully been trialled outside a laboratory.

Quantum technology being studied at DSTL can also be used to see around corners, said Dr Himsworth.

“We can use the unique quantum properties of light at the single photon level to sense around corners,” he said, adding that similar techniques can be used to see through dust or snow storms.

Such technology could be used in goggles for search and rescue helicopter pilots in remote locations.