Post-Quantum UAV Communications Encryption Tester (P-QUAVCET)*

Unencrypted communications between unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are susceptible to various security attacks, such as interception and spoofing. Both symmetric and asymmetric cryptography currently allow for secure communication between parties. However, industry and academia are working on implementing quantum computers, which will invalidate several of the most widely used cryptographic algorithms. As researchers develop novel quantum encryption methods, they will need standardized testing approaches to determine which are most optimal, especially for the unique characteristics of UAV systems. This paper describes a methodology to test and measure the efficiency of key exchange algorithms for a UAV communicating with a ground control station (GCS). The method requires a framework that models a UAV performing tasks while communicating in encrypted messages with the GCS. In addition, the calculations used for comparing algorithms require a purpose-built bandwidth equation for the quantum algorithm. The first test of this methodology is an experiment designed to compare classical key exchange with the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256) and quantum key distribution (QKD) used with a variety of parameters in the framework. A comparison of the runtime of each model facilitates the evaluation of each key exchange algorithm for UAV systems. This methodology can be used to test the efficiency of other post-quantum cryptographic algorithms in the future.