F-35 offset deal brings IBM quantum computer to ETH Zurich

An F-35 offset deal will provide ETH Zurich with a quantum computer from US manufacturer IBM, SRF reported. IBM will supply the hardware, while fighter jet manufacturer Lockheed Martin will pay for it and count the project towards its offset obligations in Switzerland.

Under the F-35 purchase contract, Lockheed Martin must conduct business worth billions of dollars in Switzerland in return for the fighter jet order.

The quantum computer is expected to become operational by the end of the year at the ETH supercomputer centre in Lugano. The IBM Quantum System Two is considered one of the world’s leading quantum computers, and Lugano will be its third location outside the United States.

“ETH and Switzerland are gaining access to one of the most advanced quantum infrastructures in the world,” ETH spokesman Markus Gross told SRF.

Unlike conventional computers, quantum computers use qubits rather than bits. Qubits can exist in several states at the same time. The technology could eventually break commonly used encryption methods and transform research, although current quantum computers remain small and prone to errors.

Switzerland’s Federal Office for Defence Procurement, Armasuisse, approved the project as an offset deal, indicating that the armed forces see potential benefits in quantum computing. Armasuisse said the project would build expertise in Switzerland and could benefit the agency and the military in the medium and long term, particularly in cybersecurity and cryptography.

ETH said the computer would be used exclusively for basic research and not for defence research. Gross said the system would have no direct military use.

Lockheed Martin will nevertheless also benefit from the project. Together with IBM, it plans to research a new navigation method using quantum technology on the computer.

The parties have not disclosed the project’s cost. Thomas Friedli, an economist at the University of St Gallen who has studied offset deals, described the market as highly opaque.

For the F-35, Lockheed Martin has committed to offset deals in Switzerland worth at least 60 percent of the contract value, or around three billion dollars, according to Armasuisse. That does not mean the company will invest that amount directly in Switzerland. For important subprojects, Armasuisse allows a multiplier of between one and three, meaning that in the most extreme case one invested dollar could be recorded as three offset dollars.

Armasuisse estimates that offset deals will add between 700 million and 800 million Swiss francs to the cost of the F-35 purchase. The money is also funding projects unrelated to the fighter jet, including research into nanotechnology and synthetic aviation fuels.

Friedli nevertheless recommends pursuing such deals, saying they direct money towards research that could be relevant to security. Strengthening these capabilities in Switzerland could later benefit industry and multiply the investments, he said.