Anduril manages Microsoft’s $22.2 billion VR military headset program
The Army has been releasing one of the long-growing projects with the best profile known as the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) with approval from the Final Bureau (DOD) of the Final Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) They plan to allow weapons manufacturers to control Andrill. Tuesday’s blog post.
IVAS was originally awarded to Microsoft in 2018 and developed an augmented reality headset for soldiers based on the robust version of Hololens. The initial budget for the IVA was set at $21.9 billion.
Andrill now assumes management of the contract. Microsoft has been removed as a major contractor, but has not been kicked out of the project. The company will continue to be a cloud provider, Microsoft.
Anduril will be tasked with monitoring production, future development of both hardware and software, and timelines for delivery, Microsoft said.
The first idea was to give the troops a heads-up display with features like thermal sensors, tactical attack kit software (which provides various types of mission-critical information), and maps.
Anduril’s lattice software was already added to Microsoft’s IVAS headset. The company announced September. The grid has added computer vision AI and other features to help headsets detect, track and classify objects.
However, the IVA had a long history of problems.
In 2022, DOD inspectors issued a report that the IVAS is not doing enough work to help people using headsets. Report Warned, “If you raise an IVA without achieving user acceptance, you will be able to make taxpayer funds up to $21.888 billion in field system A that soldiers don’t want to use or use but don’t want to use. It could be wasted.”
Microsoft’s prototypes suffered from technical issues, as they tend to do, such as detecting virtual objects, sources say. Defeating the 2023 defense.
In August, the Army vowed to enter a new bidding process where the tech giants try to keep it up, but showed it was open to pulling Microsoft away as a major contractor. Breaking Defense reported.
Lucky’s blog post at Andrill featured many celebration venues, including a poetic wax and diss to competitors. The blog posts have become so comical at a certain point.
“The tactical head-up display that turns fighter jets into technomancers and pairs them with weaponized robotics was one of the original Andrill pitch deck products for a reason,” he wrote. .
“If Andrill had more than 12 people when it was first spun decades ago (at least) Tragic mountain The guy didn’t win, our country really dodged a bullet there), I believe our crazy pitch might have won this from the start,” he continued. .
Tragic Heap is an unkind nickname for Ruckey’s magical leap among the 80 companies fighting to take over the project. Others include Palantir and Kopin, which build the display used in the F-35 helmet, Breaking Defense reported.
Lucky also teased that a full list of new features is planned for the project but did not name them. Instead, he jokingly edited the paragraph.
“Whatever you imagine, even if you imagine, I multiply by 10 and try again. I’m back, and I’ll just start.” He promised.
It remains to be seen whether the project will soon hold the entire $22 billion budget under Andrill, a new major contractor. The threat of cutting funds, or canceling the program altogether, has been ongoing for years.
On Microsoft’s side, Robin Seiler, the company’s mixed reality vice president, wrote in an official statement: IVAS Program. ”
Still, 2025 is already becoming a year of hell for Lucky and Andrill. The company is like that In discussions to raise up to $2.5 billion Round at a valuation of $28 billion. And it was announced That new weapon building location MegaFactory is located in Ohio.
Note: This story was updated to clarify that the official transfer is still pending DOD approval, including a Microsoft statement, but the companies have announced changes to the agreement.