New Delhi: To strengthen the nation’s defense capabilities and supporting the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, the Indian Army today signed its eighth procurement contract through the Innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) framework. The contract, which focuses on the procurement of the “Generation of Quantum Secure Key (Quantum Key Distribution)” system, was signed with M/s QuNu Labs at South Block, New Delhi. The signing ceremony was presided over by Lt. Gen. NC Raja Subramani, Vice Chief of the Army Staff.
QuNu Labs proposed a 200 km single-hop Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) system under iDEX’s Open Challenge 2.0. The system will replace the traditional algorithm-based encryption methods, providing enhanced security for military communications and optimizing manpower requirements.
The iDEX initiative, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 12, 2018, during the Defence Expo India, aims to foster innovation and technological development in the defense and aerospace sectors. The program engages R&D institutes, academia, industries including MSMEs, startups, and individual innovators, providing them with grants and other forms of support for R&D efforts that have the potential for future adoption by Indian defense organizations.
iDEX, operating under the Defence Innovation Organisation, has emerged as a leading platform connecting the Indian defense ecosystem with startups and innovators, gaining substantial traction within the defense startup community. The initiative has successfully created a robust framework for startups to contribute cutting-edge solutions to the Indian military.
Currently, the Indian Army is working on 74 projects under iDEX as part of the Acing Development of Innovation Tech with iDEX (ADITI), Defence India Startup Challenge (DISC), and Open Challenge schemes. These projects involve 77 startups working on state-of-the-art solutions tailored for the Army’s requirements.
The Indian Army is already testing equipment delivered under various iDEX schemes, with ongoing field exploitation aimed at evaluating their performance. Based on field results, further development of the innovative technologies will continue in collaboration with the participating startups.