Indian quantum deeptech startup QuBeats has been declared the winner of the ADITI 2.0 Defence Challenge, securing a government grant of Rs 25 crore (approximately $3 million) to develop an indigenous Quantum Positioning System (QPS) for the Indian Navy.
The award was granted under the Ministry of Defence's flagship programme to accelerate dual-use frontier technologies in critical domains.
QuBeats’ breakthrough quantum magnetometer technology promises to enable navigation without GPS, a leap forward in strategic autonomy for India’s armed forces. In an era where satellite signals can be spoofed, jammed, or denied, the innovation offers battlefield resilience, stealth advantage, and next-gen sensor superiority.
What is a Quantum Positioning System, and why is it important for defence?
QuBeats’ Quantum Positioning System (QPS) is designed to offer high-precision navigation in environments where GPS is degraded or unavailable, such as undersea, in enemy territory, or during cyber-electronic warfare. The technology uses quantum magnetometers to detect the Earth’s natural magnetic anomalies, allowing vehicles and submarines to navigate accurately by comparing their real-time magnetic signature to known magnetic maps.
This system is critical for the Indian Navy, which operates in contested waters where GPS jamming and spoofing by adversaries like China is a real threat. The QPS will also benefit the Air Force and Army by offering robust, encrypted, and passive navigation across land, sea, and air.
Who is behind QuBeats, and what makes their approach unique?
QuBeats is led by a founding team of quantum physicists and defence technologists, including:
- Mallikarjun Karra – PhD researcher at Max Planck Society
- Madhu Talluri – Postdoc, Lawrence Berkeley Lab
- Shouvik Mukherjee – Postdoc at the Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland
- Rajat Sethi – MIT-Harvard-IIT Kharagpur graduate and defence innovation strategist
The company’s core IP lies in quantum sensing, and it is building a suite of technologies including quantum magnetometers, quantum gyroscopes, miniature atomic clocks, Rydberg radars, and high-sensitivity target detection sensors.
What sets QuBeats apart is its first-mover advantage in India, a robust research pipeline, and a global perspective aimed at building export-grade, battle-ready systems.
