Babcock and Arqit Demonstrate Quantum-Safe Tactical Communications Across Mixed Bearers

On September 22, 2026, Babcock International and Arqit Quantum Inc. announced a demonstration at DVD 2026 at Millbrook, UK, in which scenario data collected at one site was encrypted with Arqit software and transmitted to Babcock's Ground Deployed Advanced Mortar System at a second site, over a network built to operate in a contested environment without physical inline encryptors. The announcement lists 4G/5G, Wi-Fi, satcom, tactical radios and MANET radios as bearers the approach is designed to work across. The two companies also signed a memorandum of understanding to explore combined work in mission systems, systems integration and cyber security.

Provenance: this is a public announcement by the companies named. It describes a demonstration and a memorandum of understanding, not a commercial deployment, a customer contract or a Fabric Networks engagement. Fabric Networks was not involved. We record it here because the platform demonstrated is the one Fabric licenses and operates in Canada.

What it does and does not show

It shows quantum-safe symmetric key agreement carrying mission data between two sites across mixed bearers in software, which is what a defence integrator needs to see before it removes hardware encryptors from a design. It does not show a programme of record, a procurement or a fielded system. An MoU is an agreement to talk, not a contract.

Our take

The pattern matters more than the mortar. Defence, emergency services and utilities in Canada all run networks that mix cellular, satellite and radio bearers, and they all face the same question: how to protect data in transit when the path is unpredictable and the encryptor cannot be a box at each end. Software key agreement that follows the data across bearers is the answer this demonstration tested. Fabric Networks delivers that capability in Canada on the same platform, and reads the Babcock work as validation of the approach, not as a Fabric result. For Canadian defence and critical infrastructure buyers, the sovereignty questions come first: where the keys are generated, where the instance runs and who operates it. Fabric's answer is Canada, Canada and Fabric.