At the workshop on 12 October, BBBS Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Dr. Shivaraman Ramaswamy delivered the opening keynote, presenting the company’s plans for quantum radar development and examining the technological challenges involved in moving the technology towards practical deployment.
The event marked a milestone for BBBS, a young Indian startup hosting a workshop within the official technical programme of IEEE MILCOM, one of the world’s leading conferences on military communications. The conference brings together researchers, defence agencies, armed forces and industry representatives.
QuantEW 2026 established a dedicated forum for exploring the intersection of quantum technologies and electronic warfare. Submitted papers underwent peer review, and accepted papers presented at the workshop will be published in the IEEE MILCOM 2026 workshop proceedings and IEEE Xplore.
Dr. Shivaraman Ramaswamy, Co-founder and CTO of BBBS, delivered the opening keynote on quantum radar, focusing on emerging technologies related to quantum illumination radar.
Quantum illumination uses entangled signal and idler photons to detect low-observable targets against strong background noise. Under these conditions, conventional radar faces limitations arising from stealth shaping, thermal noise and spoofing by digital radio frequency memory (DRFM) jammers.
Theoretical research indicates that quantum illumination can provide a significant advantage in the detection error exponent over the best classical scheme operating with the same transmitted energy. This advantage is relevant in low-signal, high-noise environments, where conventional sensors face their greatest detection challenges.
The keynote also examined the gap between this theoretical advantage and practical engineering capabilities. It highlighted that no field-deployable quantum radar exists today and identified cryogenic requirements as a critical barrier to development. Dr. Ramaswamy also outlined BBBS’ plans to develop the technology with support from the National Quantum Mission.
“Bringing the quantum and electronic warfare communities together at MILCOM was a milestone for BBBS. Quantum Radar is moving from the laboratory toward engineering reality. Our approach is designed to deliver measurable advantage in the contested, noise-dominated environments where it matters most,” said Dr. Shiva.
BBBS currently places its quantum radar programme at technology readiness level (TRL) 3 and aims to reach TRL 4-5 within approximately 24 months. Platform-mounted demonstrators and an operational prototype remain longer-term goals.
The company has also invited collaboration with academia, government laboratories and industry to address the open research problems highlighted during the keynote. Its roadmap reflects an effort to advance quantum radar technology from its current development stage towards practical demonstrations, while addressing the technical barriers that stand between theoretical capabilities and field deployment.
QuantEW 2026, formally titled “Quantum-Enhanced Electronic Warfare and Secure Military Communications,” was held on Monday, 12 October 2026, as part of IEEE MILCOM 2026, which runs from 12 to 16 October in the Washington, DC area. BBBS organised the workshop.
Founded in 2018, Big Bang Boom Solutions Private Limited is a Chennai-based deep-tech company developing technologies for defence, homeland security and strategic applications. Its work spans artificial intelligence, electronic warfare, autonomous systems and counter-unmanned aerial systems (counter-UAS).
The company’s operations are supported by in-house research and development, engineering and manufacturing capabilities, along with its 20,000 sq. ft. SHAKTI R&D Hub in Chennai. BBBS has won eight iDEX (Innovations for Defence Excellence) projects.
Through its QuantEW 2026 workshop and quantum radar development roadmap, BBBS has outlined its current technical readiness, longer-term development goals and approach to collaboration as it works to address the challenges of translating quantum illumination research into deployable radar technology.
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