Sandia National Laboratories and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a large quantum chip under an effort funded by Army Research Laboratory.

This development used diamond-based qubits and marks a milestone in an effort to produce scalable quantum processors, the U.S. Army said Thursday.

Fredrik Fatemi, co-manager of ARL's Center for Distributed Quantum Information, said the production of large-scale quantum devices will require high-quality qubits and corresponding transmission circuits.

“Here, the research team has demonstrated exceptional progress toward reliably manufacturing complex quantum chips with both critical elements," he said. 

The new chip's qubits function as artificial atoms that produce photons containing quantum information.

This hybrid process would require automation to accommodate the development of even larger quantum chips of the same kind, the effort's researchers noted.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has made contributions to COVID-19 response based on research conducted within the past two decades, National Defense Magazine reported Thursday.

Autonomous Diagnostics to Enable Prevention and Therapeutics (ADEPT), a DARPA-led study that concluded in 2013, offers information on pathogen identification with regard to vaccine development.

Peter Highnam, acting DARPA director, said ADEPT and other existing DARPA studies have supported efforts to address and treat COVID-19. He said at an event with George Washington University's Project for Media and National Security that ADEPT has informed the development of nucleic acid vaccines.

DARPA is also working on the Pathogen Prevention program that aims to protect fielded servicemen from unknown pathogens that are potentially present in operational environments.

The U.S. Navy has honored a team from Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane with the Naval Aviation Enterprise Award for the design, development, testing and rollout of a $13M fix for the P-8A Poseidon aircraft’s turret deployment unit issue.

The team addressed various gaps the TDU encountered in line with high vibration levels in the airstream, the Naval Sea Systems Command said Thursday.

David Kuhlman, division manager at NSWC Crane’s airborne electronic attack segment, said the TDU did not reach its 33-hour operating duration due to excessive vibration.

“This problem with the TDU also had the potential to cause additional damage to the aircraft upon landing as well as a safety issue for the crew.”

Kuhlman added the proposed approach sought to optimize the unit’s reliability.

The Eglin Air Force Base has started preparations for the F-15EX fighter aircraft's developmental and operational tests in 2021.

The Operational Flight Program Combined Test Force will handle planning and provisioning efforts for the tests, while the 40th Flight Test and 85th Test and Evaluation Squadrons will secure the aircraft units, the U.S. Air Force said Wednesday.

Representatives from the 96th Maintenance Group is slated to take transfer to hands-on training and familiarization classroom academics upon the aircraft's arrival. The group has began coordinating with F-15EX-affiliated organizations to address potential issues.

Eglin AFB will also receive an F-15EX simulator to expose pilots to the aircraft's design. The F-15EX will feature updated sensors, cockpit touch displays, digital flight controls and a new computer technology.

The Department of the Air Force has released a report seeking phased funds for major programs such as satellites and large space systems, SpaceNews reported Thursday.

The report, titled “Alternative Acquisition System for the United States Space Force”, states that incremental funding would enable the U.S. Space Force to be flexible in allocating funds for other programs.

It was initially sent to Congress in May before being pulled back due to several objections, according to SpaceNews. 

Shawn Barnes, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, told reporters that the acquisition proposal is still being reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). “I think we’re very close with OMB at this point,” he noted.

SpaceNews sources told the publication that OMB opposed incremental funding for space programs in favor of full allocations within the same year of ordering spacecraft.

The FBI is planning to integrate its confidential, top-secret and secret networks with cloud platforms to improve intelligence sharing among personnel working from home, FedScoop reported Thursday. 

Gurvais Griss, assistant director of the FBI Laboratory's science and technology branch, said at an AFCEA event that the bureau is looking to move unclassified data from legacy systems to less-classified cloud environments.

FBI's Criminal Justice Information Services unit is also working on efforts to move data from social media, communications platforms, mobile devices and system logs to a data lake to speed up analysis and response.

“At the lab … we have systems, business processes, administrative actions that previously were done on the higher classification network — not necessarily because they require that level of protection," he noted. "It’s just we organically designed it where people felt comfortable."