Reports from Bloomberg say that the US army is expected to receive the first batch of Microsoft’s high-tech combat goggles, citing positive testing results.
The Assistant Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Douglas Bush, “cleared the Army to begin accepting” some of the 5,000 devices. However, the army is still awaiting Pentagon permission for deployment.
Spokesman Jamal Beck said:
Based on the test results so far the service “is adjusting its fielding plan to allow for time to correct deficiencies and also field to units that are focused on training activities,”
Microsoft was awarded the contract to develop an Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) that would allow US ground soldiers to see “Heads-up display” displays similar to those used by jet pilots. The headset is based on Microsoft’s HoloLens goggles, which will allow soldiers to project information into the visor while also providing night vision.
As per reports, the company was promised more than $21 billion to manufacture around 120,000 units of these special headsets for the Army.
Last March 2021 Microsoft stated that:
“The IVAS headset, based on HoloLens and augmented by Microsoft Azure cloud services, delivers a platform that will keep Soldiers safer and make them more effective,”
Once the Pentagon approves the gadget deployment, the Army has reportedly paid $373 million for 5,000 devices to be delivered initially, which will be used for field testing before buying the remaining headsets.
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