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The Army plans to grant upstart weapons maker Anduril control of one of its mellow - profile and long - troubled projects known as the Integrated Visual Augmentation System ( IVAS ) pending net Department of Defense ( DoD ) blessing , father Palmer Luckey harbinger ina web log office Tuesday .
IVAS was ab initio present to Microsoft in 2018 to develop augmented realism headsets for soldiers based on a ruggedise reading of HoloLens . The initial budget for IVAS was set at $ 21.9 billion .
Anduril will now acquire control of the contract . While Microsoft is being removed as the prime contractor , it is not being kicked off the project . The caller will continue to be the swarm provider , according toMicrosoft .
Anduril will be tasked with supervision of production , the future evolution of both computer hardware and software , and the delivery timeline , Microsoft state .
The initial idea was to give scout troop a heads - up display with features like a thermal sensing element , Tactical Assault Kit software package ( which ply various type of mission - critical information ) , and map .
Anduril ’s Lattice software system had already been supply to Microsoft ’s marsh elder headsets , the society announcedin September . Lattice added computer vision AI and other feature that helped the headset notice , lead , and classify aim .
But IVAS has had a long history of problems .
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Back in 2022 , the DoD ’s inspector full general issued a report saying IVAS was n’t doing a good enough job serving the people — meaning the soldier — who will use the headsets . The reportwarned,“Procuring marsh elder without attaining user acceptance could ensue in wasting up to $ 21.88 billion in taxpayer fund to field a system that soldier may not need to use , or habit as designate . ”
Microsoft ’s prototypes suffered from proficient government issue , as paradigm run to do , such as detecting practical objects , sources toldBreaking Defense in 2023 .
In August , the Army bespeak it was open to pulling Microsoft off as the prime contractor although the tech giant vowed it would enter any new bid process to attempt to keep it , Breaking Defense reported .
Luckey ’s web log post on the Anduril win waxed poetic and cover a lot of celebratory ground , admit Orcus to a competitor . The blog postal service catch downright comic at certain points .
“ Tactical heads - up - video display that release warfighters into technomancers and pair us with weaponized robotics were one of the products in the original Anduril pitching deck for a reason , ” he wrote .
“ If Anduril had been more than a XII people when IVAS was first getting birl up all those age ago ( at least theTragic Heapguys did n’t win , our nation really dodged a bullet train there ) , I do believe our crazy pitch could have gain ground this from the showtime , ” he carry on .
tragical Heap is Luckey ’s unkind nickname for Magic Leap , reportedly among the 80 - some companies vying to take over this undertaking . Others included Palantir , and Kopin , which builds displays used in F-35 helmets , Breaking Defense reported .
Luckey also teased that a whole list of new features were contrive for the project but did n’t name them . Instead he jokingly edit that paragraph .
“ Whatever you are think , however crazy you imagine I am , breed it by ten and then do it again . I am back , and I am only getting started , ” he promised .
Whether the task , under its presently - to - be new prime contractile organ Anduril , will keep back the total $ 22 billion budget remains to be seen . Threats to cut support , or cancel the broadcast altogether , have been ongoing for years . For Microsoft ’s part , the company ’s VP of mixed reality Robin Seiler wrote in its public statement , “ We are incredibly proud of the study our team have put in to serve the U.S. Army transform its concept of a soldier - borne , AR headset into world with the IVAS program . ”
Still , 2025 is already mold up to be a hell of a yr for Luckey and Anduril . The society isin talks to elevate up to a $ 2.5 billionround at a $ 28 billion evaluation . And it announcedthat the location of its new weapons - buildingmegafactory will be in Ohio . musical note : This story was updated to include Microsoft ’s statement and to clarify that the official transfer is still pending DoD approval , although both company have announced the variety in the contract .
