The Quantum Inflection Point: Assessing

the 2025 Breakthroughs and the

Timeline for Fault-Tolerant Computation
Prepared by Google Gemini AI with Deep Research Function

Executive Summary: The State of Quantum in 2025

The question of whether a quantum computer can be built is no longer a matter of theoretical
speculation. The answer is an unequivocal yes. As of 2025, quantum computers are an
established, tangible technology.1 More than 40 distinct Quantum Processing Units (QPUs)
are commercially available from over two dozen manufacturers, representing a clear and rapid
evolution from laboratory concepts to commercial reality.1

The second question—when a quantum computer will be "successfully" built—is more

complex, as the definition of "success" is the single most critical variable in any forecast. The
field is not moving toward a single "finish line" but is advancing through four distinct stages of
success, three of which are already being realized.

This report finds that 2025, formally designated the "International Year of Quantum Science
and Technology" 2, marks a true inflection point. The palpable "buzz" in the business
community 1 is, for the first time, substantiated by a series of foundational scientific
breakthroughs that have solved decades-old challenges. Chief among these is the first
experimental proof, using Google's "Willow" processor, that quantum error correction—the
only known path to large-scale, revolutionary quantum computers—is scientifically viable and
practically achievable.5

This technological race is underpinned by a new peak in venture capital funding, observed in
2024 1, and a global geopolitical sprint for dominance between the United States, China, and
Europe.4 The market is projected to be vast, with core quantum technologies expected to
generate up to $97 billion in annual revenue by 2035.8 The primary driver for this urgency,
however, is the national security threat: the consensus timeline indicates that a sufficiently
powerful quantum computer, capable of rendering all modern cryptography "unsafe," will
emerge by 2029.9

To provide a precise answer to the user's query, "success" must be deconstructed. The
following framework defines the four distinct stages of a "successful" quantum computer and
their status as of late 2025.

Table 1: The Four Definitions of a "Successful" Quantum Computer

Stage of Success Definition Key Capabilities & Status as of late

Limitations 2025

Stage 1 NISQ (Noisy A functional device ACHIEVED.

Intermediate-Scal with 50-1,000+ Commercially
e Quantum) "noisy" available via cloud
Computer (error-prone) platforms (e.g.,
qubits. Can be used Amazon Braket,
for research, Microsoft Azure
algorithm testing, Quantum, IBM
and small-scale Quantum) from
simulation. over 24 vendors.1

Stage 2 Quantum A device that solves ACHIEVED. First

Supremacy / a contrived (not claimed by Google
Beyond Classical necessarily useful) in 2019.12
mathematical Re-demonstrated
problem faster than by Google's Willow
the most powerful in 2025, which
classical performed a
supercomputer. calculation in
minutes that would
take a
supercomputer "10
septillion years".5

Stage 3 Useful Quantum A device that solves EMERGING /

Advantage a commercially CLAIMED. This is
valuable, real-world the current frontier.
problem faster, The strongest claim
cheaper, or more was made in March
accurately than any 2025 by D-Wave,
known classical which published a
 computer. Science paper
demonstrating its
annealer solved a
useful materials
science simulation
faster than a top
supercomputer.13

Stage 4 Fault-Tolerant The ultimate goal. A NOT ACHIEVED.

Quantum large-scale, This is the focus of
Computing error-corrected all major corporate
(FTQC) machine using roadmaps.
"logical qubits" to Projections from
run complex IBM, PsiQuantum,
algorithms (e.g., and independent
Shor's algorithm) analysts (Gartner)
and unlock converge on the
revolutionary 2029-2030
applications. timeframe for the
first FTQC
systems.9

This report's central finding is that the timeline for quantum computing has bifurcated. The
field is proceeding along two parallel tracks with two different answers to "when":
1.​ The Niche, Near-Term Track: "Useful Quantum Advantage" (Stage 3) for specific
optimization problems is already emerging, primarily through specialized "quantum
annealing" hardware.13
2.​ The Universal, Long-Term Track: "Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computing" (Stage 4), the
universal machine that will change the world, is on a clear and newly credible path
toward the end of this decade.16

This bifurcation implies a dual strategy is now required for any organization: (A) explore
immediate, tangible business value on annealers today for optimization tasks 19, and (B)
simultaneously begin urgent, long-term strategic preparation for the "crypto-apocalypse" and
universal computation promised by fault-tolerant machines.9

The Core Problem: Why "Successful" Quantum

Computing Is Hard
A classical computer bit is binary: it exists as either a $0$ or a $1$. A quantum bit, or "qubit,"
leverages the laws of quantum mechanics to exist in "superposition"—a state of $0$ and $1$
at the same time.7 This property, combined with "entanglement" (the ability to link qubits so
their fates are intertwined), allows a quantum computer to perform complex calculations at
"unprecedented speeds," exploring a vast number of possibilities simultaneously.22

This immense power is also its fundamental weakness. Qubits are "incredibly fragile".23 To
maintain their quantum state, they must be perfectly isolated from their environment.25 Any
interaction—a stray particle, a tiny vibration, a fluctuation in temperature or an
electromagnetic field—causes the qubit to "decohere." Decoherence is the process of the
qubit losing its quantum state and collapsing into a simple classical bit, destroying the
computation.25 This is the single, central enemy of all quantum computing: noise.

This fragility is quantified by "coherence time"—the brief window during which a qubit can
maintain its quantum state, or "live," before decohering.27 For the most widely used platform,
the superconducting "transmon" qubits favored by industry leaders like Google and IBM, this
lifetime has been a "major bottleneck," stuck below 100 microseconds (millionths of a
second).27 This is not nearly enough time to perform the billions of operations required for a
revolutionary algorithm.

A Foundational Breakthrough: Princeton's November 2025 Qubit

This primary bottleneck was shattered in late 2025. On November 5, 2025, a team from
Princeton University, led by Andrew Houck, published a landmark paper in the journal Nature
detailing a new design for a superconducting qubit.28

The results are transformative:

●​ New Coherence Time: The Princeton qubit demonstrates a coherence time of over 1
millisecond (one-thousandth of a second).30
●​ Comparative Performance: This is 15 times longer than the industry-standard qubits
currently used in the large-scale processors of Google and IBM.27 It is three times longer
than the previous best laboratory record.29
●​ Practical Impact: This is not a mere laboratory curiosity. The new qubit design is "similar
to those already used by leading companies" and "could easily be slotted into existing
processors".28

The implications of this hardware breakthrough are profound. Andrew Houck stated that if this
new qubit design were used in Google's "Willow" processor (see Section 3), it would enable
that processor to work "1,000 times better".28 This is the "next big jump forward" 28 because
it fundamentally changes the mathematics of solving the noise problem.

The prevailing theory for achieving fault-tolerance, known as the surface code, requires
massive "overhead"—bundling as many as 1,000 physical qubits to create a single, robust
logical qubit.33 This high ratio is a direct consequence of the noisiness of the underlying
physical qubits. The Princeton breakthrough, by creating a physical qubit that is 15 times more
stable, exponentially reduces the overhead required. It suggests that the path to a
fault-tolerant computer may not require building impossibly large processors of a million or
more qubits with today's noisy components. Instead, the path is now clearer: building
processors with far better components. This breakthrough validates the entire approach to
error correction and, in a single stroke, makes the timeline for fault-tolerance dramatically
more credible.

The Path to Success: Error Correction and the Logical

Qubit

The solution to the "decoherence" problem (Section 2) is not to build a single, perfect physical
qubit, which may be physically impossible. The solution, borrowed from classical computing,
is error correction. In quantum computing, this is achieved by creating a "logical qubit".34

A logical qubit is not a physical object; it is an "abstraction".35 Information is encoded across a

"cluster of physical qubits".35 In this scheme, some physical qubits in the cluster act as "data
qubits," while others act as "ancilla qubits".37 The ancilla qubits are used to constantly check
the data qubits for errors—a process called "syndrome measurement".38 When an error is
detected, the system applies a correction, thereby preserving the logical information "even in
the presence of noise".34

This process comes at a staggering cost. The "overhead"—the ratio of physical qubits to
logical qubits—can be enormous, with estimates as high as 1,000:1.24 Furthermore, this
detection and correction must happen in real-time, requiring a massive, high-speed classical
computing system to process the error data faster than the errors themselves accumulate.40

The "Threshold Theorem" and the 30-Year Goal

For three decades, the entire concept of quantum error correction (QEC) rested on a single,
unproven theory: the "threshold theorem".39

This theorem states that error correction only works if the underlying physical qubits are
already good enough—that is, their physical error rate is "below a critical threshold".41 If the
physical qubits are too noisy (above the threshold), then adding more physical qubits to the
QEC code doesn't fix errors; it just adds more errors, making the logical qubit even worse than
the physical qubits it's made of.43

Proving this theorem—demonstrating experimentally that one can cross this threshold and
make a logical qubit more stable than its constituent parts—was the "holy grail" of the field, a
key challenge "pursued for almost 30 years".5 Until this was proven, fault-tolerant quantum
computing remained a purely theoretical possibility.

The "Willow" Milestone: Google's 2024-2025 Breakthrough

In late 2024 and early 2025, Google's Quantum AI team, using their new 105-qubit "Willow"
processor 10, announced they had finally and definitively crossed this threshold. In a landmark
Nature publication 6, they provided the first-ever experimental proof of the threshold
theorem.
●​ The Breakthrough: Google's team implemented a "surface code," the leading QEC
architecture.46 They demonstrated for the first time that as they increased the size of the
code—scaling from a 3x3 lattice of physical qubits to a 5x5, and then to a 7x7 lattice—the
error rate of the logical qubit went down exponentially, suppressing errors by a factor of
2.14 with each step.6
●​ The Significance: This result "cracks a key challenge" 5 and validates the entire roadmap
toward fault-tolerance.10 It is the first demonstration of "beyond breakeven"
performance, where the resulting logical qubit has a lifetime longer than the best
physical qubits used to build it.5 This is not "hype" 43; it is a "true milestone for scientists"
44
that provides a "clear path" to large-scale machines.48

The confluence of the two 2025 breakthroughs—Princeton's hardware (Section 2) and

Google's architecture (Section 3)—creates a powerful positive feedback loop that
dramatically accelerates the timeline to fault-tolerance.

Willow proved that the method (QEC) is viable.5 The Princeton qubit proved that the hardware
(physical qubits) can be made dramatically better.28 It is critical to note that Google achieved
its "below-threshold" result despite using inferior, industry-standard qubits.27 By combining
the Princeton qubit's 15x-longer coherence time with the Willow QEC architecture, the "1,000
times better" performance claimed by Houck 32 becomes a tangible engineering target. This
combination solves the two greatest historical barriers to FTQC at once: (A) "Is QEC even
possible?" (Yes, per Willow) and (B) "Is the overhead too high to be practical?" (Perhaps not,
per Princeton). This is why the 2029-2030 FTQC timelines, detailed in the next section, are
now highly credible.

The "Qubit Wars": Competing Architectures and

Corporate Timelines

There is no industry consensus on the "best" way to build a qubit.50 The world's leading
technology companies are waging a high-stakes "war" by betting billions of dollars on entirely
different physical platforms.12 This diversity of viable approaches is a strong indicator that the
field will succeed; it is not reliant on a single, make-or-break technology. This "portfolio"
approach by the market de-risks the endeavor as a whole. The question is no longer if one of
these paths will lead to fault-tolerance, but which one will prove the most scalable and
efficient.

Table 2: Competing Qubit Architectures: A Comparative Analysis

Qubit Type Core Principle Key Key Main

Advantages Challenges Proponents

Superconduct Microscopic Fast gate Noisy: Very Google 10, IBM

ing circuits of operation short 12
, Fujitsu 57
superconducti speeds 56; coherence
ng metal mature times 27;
(Josephson fabrication requires
junctions).53 (solid-state extreme
platform). cryogenic
cooling
(millikelvin).25

Trapped Ion Individual ions High-Fidelity: Slow gate Quantinuum 52,

(charged Extremely operation IonQ 19
 atoms) stable, long speeds 58;
suspended in a coherence scaling control
vacuum using times 27; (lasers) is
electromagneti all-to-all qubit complex.58
c fields.54 connectivity.56

Photonics Qubits are Manufacturin Photon Loss: PsiQuantum 52,

encoded in g: Leverages Losing a Xanadu 2
single particles existing silicon photon means
of light semiconductor losing the
(photons) fabs 61; qubit 64; gates
manipulated Networking: are
on a chip.54 Ideal for non-determini
connecting stic.63
chips 61;
Cooling:
Operates at
"warmer"
temps.63

Topological Information is Theoretically Experimental: Microsoft 12

encoded in the "natively" Qubits are
"braiding" of fault-tolerant extremely
66
exotic ; information difficult to
quasiparticles is non-locally create; the
(Majorana protected from physics is still
fermions).54 noise. being
proven.66

Quantum Not a universal Commercially Not Universal: D-Wave 10

Annealing gate-based useful today Cannot run all
70
computer. ; scales to quantum
Uses quantum 7,000+ qubits algorithms
physics to find 19
; highly (e.g., Shor's).72
the noise-tolerant.
lowest-energy 71

solution to an
optimization
problem.69
4.1. The Incumbents: Superconducting (Google & IBM)

●​ Strategy: Leverage fast gate speeds 56 and their lead in scaling physical qubit counts.
Their entire strategy requires solving QEC, which is why the Willow 5 and Princeton 28
breakthroughs are so critical to their roadmaps.
●​ Google: Follows a milestone-based, not date-based, roadmap.73
○​ Milestone 2 (Achieved): QEC below the error threshold (the "Willow"
breakthrough).5
○​ Milestone 3 (Next): Build a "long-lived logical qubit" using $\approx$1,000 physical
qubits to achieve a $10^{-6}$ error rate.73
○​ Milestone 6 (Final): Construct a 1-million-physical-qubit, fault-tolerant computer.73
●​ IBM: Follows a date-based roadmap focused on modularity—linking smaller chips to
build a larger computer.52
○​ 2025: "Loon" processor, designed to test new, more efficient QEC codes (qLDPC).16
○​ 2026: "Kookaburra" processor, IBM's first modular chip designed to store and
process encoded logical information.16
○​ 2029: "Starling" system, the target for a 200-logical-qubit, fault-tolerant system.16
●​ Fujitsu: Also aggressively pursuing this path, targeting a 250-logical-qubit machine by
2030.57

4.2. The High-Fidelity Path: Trapped Ions (Quantinuum)

●​ Strategy: Focus on quality over quantity. The central thesis is that the race will be won
by the company with the best logical qubits, not the most physical ones.10
●​ Metrics: Quantinuum rejects "raw qubit counts" 10 and instead champions "Quantum
Volume" (QV) 76, a holistic benchmark measuring all-around performance (qubit count,
connectivity, error rates).77 In 2025, they achieved a QV of over 8 million, meeting a
five-year goal.77
●​ Hardware (Nov 2025): The new "Helios" system 59 is claimed to be the "most accurate
quantum computer in the world".59 It features industry-leading fidelities: 99.9975%
1-qubit gate fidelity and 99.921% 2-qubit gate fidelity.80
●​ Roadmap: Leveraging this high fidelity, Quantinuum has already demonstrated "logical
circuit error rates 800 times lower than... physical circuit error rates" in partnership with
Microsoft.82 Their public goal is to deliver a universal, fault-tolerant computer "by the end
of the decade".17
4.3. The High-Risk "Holy Grail": Topological (Microsoft)

●​ Strategy: A high-risk, high-reward bet.12 Instead of fighting noise with complex QEC,
build a qubit that is naturally immune to noise.54
●​ The Breakthrough (Feb 2025): After decades of research, Microsoft unveiled "Majorana
1".2 This is the "world's first" QPU powered by topological qubits.68 The team claims to
have "created a new state of matter" to achieve this.84
●​ The Payoff: If this approach works and scales, the QEC "overhead" could be reduced
"roughly tenfold".83 This would enable Microsoft to scale to a million qubits on a single
chip 68 that "can be held in the palm of one's hand," not a system the size of a "football
field".86
●​ Roadmap: Microsoft is on a path to build a fault-tolerant prototype "in years, not
decades".83 Their device roadmap outlines a clear progression from single-qubit devices
to 8-qubit arrays for demonstrating logical error correction.85

4.4. The Mass-Manufacturing Path: Photonics (PsiQuantum)

●​ Strategy: Use a completely different platform—photons (particles of light) 65—to

leverage the existing, mature, multi-trillion-dollar semiconductor fabrication industry.61
Their bet is $1B+ 90 that manufacturing scale is the only problem that matters.
●​ The Breakthrough (Feb 2025): The "Omega" chipset.61 This announcement, published
in Nature, proved that all the advanced components required (photon sources, switches,
detectors) can be mass-manufactured in a "high-volume semiconductor fab".61
●​ Key Advantages:
1.​ Manufacturing: Uses existing, high-volume fabs.61
2.​ Cooling: Photons are "unaffected by heat," allowing the system to operate at
temperatures 100 times higher than superconductors. This eliminates the
"chandelier" for simpler "datacenter racks".63
3.​ Networking: Photonic qubits are particles of light, so connecting chips and modules
with standard optical fiber is simple and efficient.61
●​ Roadmap: Extremely aggressive. Their "singular intent" is a 1-million-qubit FTQC
machine.89 They plan to break ground on their first FTQC site in Australia in 2025, with the
goal of enabling it by 2027.93 The target for a full, commercially useful FTQC system is
2029-2030.18
4.5. The "Here and Now" Path: Annealing (D-Wave)

●​ Strategy: Do not compete on universal FTQC. Focus exclusively on optimization

problems 69 and deliver commercial value today.71
●​ The Breakthrough (March 2025): The "Beyond Classical" paper published in Science.13
D-Wave claimed its annealer solved a useful, real-world materials science simulation 15
that would take a classical supercomputer 1 million years.13
●​ The Impact: This is the first strong, peer-reviewed claim of "Useful Quantum Advantage"
(Stage 3). It gives D-Wave a powerful first-mover advantage in enterprise applications for
optimization.19
●​ Roadmap: D-Wave's roadmap is not focused on fault-tolerance. It is focused on scaling
its "Advantage2" system (from 4,400 to 7,000+ qubits) 19 and improving its hybrid
quantum-classical solvers.97

The Geopolitical and Economic Landscape

The "Qubit Wars" are not happening in a vacuum. They are a proxy for a "high-stakes sprint" 7
for economic and military dominance.
●​ United States: Currently leads in raw processor performance 1 and private-sector
venture capital.1 The U.S. strategy is defined by "private-sector firepower" 7 from its tech
giants (Google, IBM, Microsoft, Quantinuum) 12, supported by the National Quantum
Initiative.98
●​ China: Leads the world in the sheer number of quantum technology patents filed.1 It is
viewed by the U.S. and E.U. as a "dangerous adversary" 4 and "strategic rival" 99,
characterized by a "state-driven" approach.7
●​ Europe (E.U. & U.K.): Pursues a "sovereignty-first" strategy 7 and is a hotbed for
startups, accounting for 8 of the 19 new quantum ventures launched in 2024.7
○​ France: The PROQCIMA program aims to build two universal quantum computers
with 128 logical qubits by 2030.100
○​ United Kingdom: Has pledged £2.5 billion to its national program.7
●​ Other Nations: Canada, Japan, and Israel have all launched significant, well-funded
national programs to compete.7
This global race is fueled by "peak" venture capital funding, which hit a new high in 2024 1,
and market projections of a $97 billion revenue opportunity by 2035.8 This activity is creating
significant "buzz" 1 among business leaders who, having witnessed the "rapid rise of AI," are
now alert to how quickly a "simmering" technology can "explode" and have a "tremendous
impact".1

The Other Scalability Challenges

The path to a million-qubit FTQC is not just about the qubits. The industry faces three other
critical bottlenecks:
1.​ Cryogenics: Superconducting qubits (Google, IBM) must operate at millikelvin
temperatures, near absolute zero.25 The "chandelier" dilution refrigerators used today are
an immense infrastructure and heat-generation challenge.53
2.​ Control Systems: How do you individually control one million qubits? The classical
electronics required to send and receive signals are a "primary bottleneck".102 The "wiring
problem" is considered by many to be harder than the qubit problem.
3.​ The "Quantum Skills" Gap: There is a severe talent shortage. The demand for quantum
skills has "nearly tripled since 2018".1 This has become a major focus of workforce
development, with companies and nations investing heavily in university hubs.1

A critical, under-the-radar development is the solution to the control system bottleneck. A

1-million-qubit processor 73 cannot be controlled by a million wires running from
room-temperature electronics down into the "chandelier," as those wires import too much
heat.101 The only viable solution is to build the classical control electronics next to the
quantum chip, inside the cryogenic environment.103

In 2025, a Nature paper from Diraq and Emergence Quantum demonstrated "cryo-CMOS"
technology—classical control circuits that can operate at millikelvin temperatures without
degrading qubit performance.107 This breakthrough is just as important as the qubit
breakthroughs, as it provides a practical path to solving the "wiring problem" and makes the
Google/IBM roadmaps physically plausible.

Conclusion: Answering "When?" - A Synthesized

Forecast and Recommendations
This report finds that the question "Is it possible?" has been definitively answered. The 2025
breakthroughs in hardware (Princeton's qubit) 28, architecture (Google's Willow) 5, and
alternative platforms (Microsoft's Majorana 1 68, PsiQuantum's Omega 61) have collectively
retired the question of scientific feasibility.

The question "When?" now has a clear, consensus-driven answer. The timeline is no longer a
vague academic guess; it is a concrete, multi-billion-dollar business objective. The internal
corporate roadmaps and the external strategic threat assessments have converged on a
single, critical timeframe: 2029-2030.

This report synthesizes all data into a three-stage forecast.

The Multi-Stage Forecast: 2025-2035

●​ Stage 1 (2024-2025): "The Viability Era" (We are here).

○​ Status: ACHIEVED/IN PROGRESS.
○​ This era is defined by the foundational proofs of viability. Key milestones include:
Quantum Error Correction proven (Google's Willow) 5; qubit hardware quality proven
(Princeton's 1ms qubit) 28; and "Useful Quantum Advantage" claimed (D-Wave's
Science paper).13
●​ Stage 2 (2026-2028): "The Logical Qubit Era."
○​ Status: FORTHCOMING.
○​ This will be the next great race: the engineering sprint to build, control, and
benchmark the first stable, high-fidelity logical qubits.
○​ Key Milestones to Watch: IBM's "Kookaburra" (2026), the first processor for
encoded logical operations 16; Google's Milestone 3, a 10^-6 error logical qubit 73;
Quantinuum's H-series advancements 17; and PsiQuantum enabling its Australian
FTQC site (2027).93
●​ Stage 3 (2029-2035): "The Fault-Tolerant Era."
○​ Status: PROJECTED.
○​ This marks the arrival of the first "Stage 4" FTQC systems capable of solving
revolutionary problems. The roadmaps of all major players converge on this window:
■​ IBM: "Starling" 200-logical-qubit system projected for 2029.16
■​ PsiQuantum: 1M-qubit FTQC system targeted for 2029-2030.18
■​ Quantinuum: Universal FTQC projected "by the end of the decade" (i.e., 2030).17
■​ France (PROQCIMA): 128-logical-qubit system targeted for 2030.100
■​ Fujitsu: 250-logical-qubit system targeted for 2030.57
This industry-driven forecast is independently corroborated by the strategic analysis
community. Gartner, in its 2024-2025 technology assessment, issued a blunt warning:
quantum computing will render traditional asymmetric cryptography "unsafe" by 2029 and
"fully breakable" by 2034.9 This convergence is not a coincidence. It signals that the
industry's internal roadmaps are now sufficiently credible for external analysts to set a hard
date on the "crypto-apocalypse."

Strategic Recommendations

The 2029-2030 inflection point is no longer a distant risk; it is a near-term strategic planning
horizon.
1.​ For C-Suite & Strategy (Urgent): The primary threat is the "harvest-now,
decrypt-later" attack.9 State-level adversaries 4 are understood to be already exfiltrating
and storing encrypted data (e.g., corporate IP, state secrets, financial records), confident
they can decrypt it all post-2029. The transition to Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)
109
must begin immediately. This is a "multi-year program, not a last-minute patch," and
failure could have dangerous consequences.9
2.​ For Investors & Technologists: The "buzz" is real 1, but the metrics have changed. Do
not ask "how many qubits?".50 This is a legacy metric. The critical questions to ask of any
quantum company are now:
○​ "What is your logical qubit error rate?"
○​ "What is your Quantum Volume (QV)?" 77
○​ "What is your path to solving the cryo-control (wiring) bottleneck?" 103
○​ "What is your manufacturing and scaling path?" 62
3.​ For Policy-Makers: The most significant non-technical bottleneck is the "quantum skills"
gap.1 The "war for talent" 1 is as critical as the war for hardware. Continued and expanded
investment in university quantum hubs and workforce development programs 104 is a
matter of economic and national security.

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