Microsoft announces the plan to slip $ 22 billion IVAS contract to Anduril

The army received the new IVAS 1.2 prototype for a number of tests. (US Army)

Washington-Microsoft is trying to transfer his entire IVAS contract to Anduril, in a fantastic VRI to the long-standing saga to deliver protective rights glasses to troops.

The move – which would see Anduril assumes monitoring the entire program, including the development of the current hardware and software, employment decisions about staff and the acquisition of production-coming as the army is considering launching a follow-up IVAS competition.

The service has not blessed it recently wiped out “Contact Novation” aND did not answer questions from Breaking Defense about the program or the proposed shift. However, leaders from both companies expressed confidence that the army is backing up.

“We have been working together for quite a long time now … (and) We are signing a strategic partnership that will take IVAs into the future,” Robin Seiler, Microsoft’s Business Vice President of Mixed Reality, journalists said prior to today’s official announcement.

Seiler added that Microsoft Azure would be the preferred Hyperscale -Sky for Ivas.

The bid to slip the current contact work in the 10th year, $ 22 billion contacts at a critical time for the program. Despite many years of program challenges and a heads-up display-redesign that is still being tested, army leaders have not officially said whether they will cancel IVAS work during the original contract or execute a limited production run. However, they are ready for a new competition and even meet with companies today to answer questions about an IVA’s next competition and possible requirements.

Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, who made his technological breakthrough with the commercial Oculus VR headset, has teased the development of a new mix of mixed reality with military applications. In September 2024, Tech announced its steps against assuming the IVAS contract with a Microsoft partnership for the integration of new sensors and the grid platform into the unit.

So with Ivas next in the wings and their positioning as a likely competitor, why would Anduril take over the troubled program now?

By taking over the management of the current contract just in front of the results of an operational assessment of make-or-break, Luckey’s team could be asked to produce a limited number of the latest IVAS devices designed by Microsoft or left with a canceled deal. At the same time, however, his team would have further time working with army leaders on the program and access to a mix of production and research and development financing, Luckey confirmed.

An industrial source who has previously expected today’s announcement said it is the access to government financing that will give Aundril an advantage over other IVAs next competitors.

“They should invest their own capital for architect and develop IVA’s technology that the army can acquire and mark,” the source of the industry said. “If they use the contract as a vehicle to capture Army’s subsidies, they will run the problematic defense -primming playbook we’ve seen for decades.”

When asked about the perception of such an unreasonable advantage, Luckey said it was just the reality of being the current one and there was always a company in this position.

“The people who already do will certainly have an advantage over people coming in and starting from scratch,” he added. “Anduril is no stranger to fighting incumbenscy. I think if people have better things they will be able to get in. “

Long way to ‘Next’

The first Trump -Administration started the IVAS efforts Based around Microsoft’s commercially available Hololen’s 2 heads-up display with the goal of giving soldiers a single device, they could use both in combat (including under the coverage of dark) and for virtual training.

This work eventually led to a 10-year production contract worth up to $ 22 billion. Shortly after the 2021 prize, a number of problems publicly appeared Including soldiers who complain about discomfort, dizziness, nausea and system reliability.

Although army leaders publicly stood Back The program first began to temper expectations and even divided the program into three initial versions – 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 iterations of the goggles. (The service has acquired 5,000 1.0 units with plans to possibly acquire an additional 5,000 1.1 units for limited use.)

Version 1.2 was invoiced as a key make-or-break upgrade — a iteration to correct past problems, partly by transferring the device from a helmet-like screen with a 70-degree field-of-view, to a hinged, flat design with a 60-degree field of view that soldiers can turn up.

The service has not released details of initial testing with the new redesign, and a recent director of testing and evaluation report on fiscal activities in 2024 said the service is now expected to detail the finding of an operational assessment of IVAS 1.2 in April to June -Time framework. This test is designed to help army leaders decide if they want to skip production, make a limited run or dive into a larger bulk purchase.

Based on this decision, Luckey said Anduril would be ready to move out, and any large purchase of IVAS 1.2 or next could eventually be produced at the company’s future Arsenal-1 plant in Columbus, Ohio.

But while the army continues preparations for the key test, it performed other assessments that will be included in the path ahead. For example, members of the 75th Ranger Regiment were tasked with driving IVA’s 1.2 through Ringer together with dedicated night vision systems such as the improved NightSynsgoggle-Binocular (ENVG-B) and another system called PVS-14, a service for a service told breaking Defense last year.

While companies are waiting for more information about Army IVA’s next plans, Luckey said he expects the service that buys a number of heads-up screens from various suppliers tied together via a common architecture and common application layer. The hardware design, he suspects, will vary depending on the soldier’s job.

“I think you want to see things ranging from glasses that look like a lot of Oakley’s you wear every day right up to things that look like an Iron Man helmet,” he told journalists. “Anduril wants to make some (slice) of these things, but … pretty much everyone who works on IVA’s next (are companies) that I am interested in working with.”

Not all companies preparing to compete in IVAS NEXT has publicly announced plans. However, the Massachusetts-based copy has also said that it is interested in competing, while companies like Palantir have participated in industrial days.