Anduril has announced that it is taking over the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program from Microsoft, leveraging the experience of its co-founder, Palmer Luckey, in developing OCULUS, the first truly successful VR headset, as well as its expertise in artificial intelligence and sensor fusion.
Microsoft had been awarded in March 2021 a a "fixed price production agreement" by the US Army to manufacture and supply IVAS headsets with a long-term objective of over 120,000 sets for a contract value of up to 21.88 billion USD. The IVAS system aims to provide the soldier with combat situational awareness, day and night. The visor is meant to be a low-profile, see-through display system providing 24/7 advanced situational awareness (SA) in all operating environments, fused night vision capabilities, and passive targeting.
IVAS is meant to provide movement of information, high level processing, and displays augmented reality information (Blue force tracking, Navigation, etc.) intuitively in three-dimensional space from mission planning data and real-time data including shared coordinate terrain data and machine learning/artificial intelligence processing enabled by tactical cloud package, shared information for mounted soldiers and advanced network services. When connected to the relevant sensors, it must also deliver "See Through" armour capability for soldiers riding inside vehicles.
IVAS must also enable Synthetic Training Environment (STE) squad capability so that Soldiers can Fight, Rehearse, and Train on the same system. Each IVAS set includes the Heads-Up Display (HUD) with local processing as the base system along with supportive Soldier power equipment, IVAS network components, etc. IVAS must also integrate and work cooperatively with other dependent systems including a new soldier data radio (program aligned since FY 2022) and advanced weapon optics that can transfer data to the visor. Those are separate programs but must of course run in coordination.
IVAS has not had a smooth development. Microsoft faced protests by its own employees upon taking a military contract of this kind, for example, but more importantly soldiers have reported physical ailments after using IVAS in the field, with the main symptoms being headaches, eye strain, and nausea, leading to a “course correction” in November 2022 with an interruption of purchases. Anduril and Microsoft had earlier announced their teaming, initially to bring Anduril’s LATTICE software onto IVAS.
Lattice is an open software platform that takes data from disparate and distributed sensors, feeds, and systems and moves it into a single integration layer where it is processed, including with the use of AI and machine learning, to present actionable, high-value information to the final user.
Now Anduril will take the lead and curate production, future hardware and software, and delivery, with Microsoft providing its cloud and artificial intelligence offerings as the digital backbone. Anduril will thus respond to the US Army’s recent call to interested vendors for proposals for “IVAS Next”, the ongoing development of the system towards operational use. Improvements are sought in all areas, from Human-Machine Integration to visual comfort all the way to integration with the Tactical Assault Kit (TAK) military situation awareness application and with Open Extended Reality XR.
In Fiscal Year 2025, the US Army plans to resume procurement, ordering 3,162 HUD tactical kits, with an anticipated unitary cost of 41,824 dollars. A tactical kit kit comprises of the HUD/puck, 1 Data Radio, 3 Conformal Wearable Batteries (CWB) per soldier, Advanced Battery Charger (ABC) (1 every 50 HUDs), and Tactical Cloud Package (TCP) (1 every 135 HUDs).
Deliveries will take place in 2026 (April to October). In prior years, a total of 10,000 kits had been procured, while the Army Acquisition Objective is currently set at 121,500.
The capabilities promised by IVAS are transformational for the Dismounted Soldier, if they can successfully materialize with further improvement of the system.
Privacy Policy
Powered by © Mobilbyte s.a.s. Information Technology