{"id":1715,"date":"2025-06-04T08:10:59","date_gmt":"2025-06-04T06:10:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/?p=1715"},"modified":"2025-06-08T10:42:58","modified_gmt":"2025-06-08T08:42:58","slug":"us-army-kickstarts-possible-recompete-of-microsofts-22-billion-ivas-production-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/?p=1715","title":{"rendered":"US Army kickstarts possible recompete of Microsoft\u2019s $22 billion IVAS production deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

The US Army is taking the next step in recompeting its multi-billion dollar\u00a0mixed-reality\u00a0goggle production contract with an official ask to industry to send in viable options.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The service published its new\u00a0Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) Next request for information today, giving interested companies until Feb. 26 to respond with their solutions for the combat-suitable heads-up display.<\/p>\n

\u201cIVAS provides soldiers and squads a single platform for increased lethality, mobility, and situational awareness necessary to achieve overmatch against current and future adversaries,\u201d the Army wrote in the\u00a0release<\/a>. \u201cIt is a \u2018fight first\u2019 system with the benefit of rehearse and train capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

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While the RFI doesn\u2019t guarantee the service will recompete its current 10-year production contract with Microsoft valued up to $22 billion, it does kickstart such a process after surveying the market last year. Although the Army did not detail a competition schedule or acquisition plan, it offered up a peak at problems its looking to solve with IVAS Next including \u201cknown visual comfort limitations\u201d such as \u201cvisual discomfort and nausea from virtual, mixed, and augmented reality headsets.\u201d<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Microsoft did not immediately respond to questions about the new RFI today but has previously said it will throw its hat in the ring. Anduril\u00a0founder Palmer Luckey has\u00a0also teased the development of a new mixed-reality device, though it is not clear if this would be a partnership with Microsoft.\u00a0Massachusetts-based Kopin has also said it\u2019s interested in completing, while companies like Palantir may also be eyeing a bid.<\/p>\n

One industry source closely following the program welcomed today\u2019s RFI, saying it signals that the Army is ready for a new approach and has seen \u201ccompetitive\/superior\u201d technology on the market and is ready to move forward.<\/p>\n

Initially pitched as a game changer for the service, the current IVAS contract is based around Microsoft\u2019s HoloLens 2 heads-up display. The idea was a single device soldiers could use both in combat (including under the cover of darkness) and for virtual training. However,\u00a0reports began<\/a>\u00a0emerging in 2021 about problems with the device, followed by a scathing Pentagon inspector general report that detailed soldiers complaining of discomfort, dizziness, nausea, and system reliability.<\/p>\n

Service leaders publicly stood\u00a0behind\u00a0the program at first, before they began tempering expectations and splitting the program up into three initial versions \u2014 the 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2 iterations of the goggles. (The service has acquired 5,000 1.0 units, with plans to acquire an additional 5,000 1.1 units for limited use.)<\/p>\n

It then billed the new 1.2 version as the make-or-break upgrade \u2014 an iteration to correct past problems, in part, by transitioning the device from a helmet-like display with a\u00a070-degree\u00a0field-of-view, to a hinged, flat design with a 60-degree field-of-view that soldiers can flip up.<\/p>\n

But while\u00a0the service worked with Microsoft on the redesign and testing, it also began teasing an IVAS Next initiative. After attending Army-led industry days and one-on-one meetings with the government last year, a trio of industry sources independently\u00a0told Breaking Defense\u00a0they were preparing for a new open competition to decide who wins a lucrative contract to produce the headset.<\/p>\n

In tandem, Army leaders began taking inventory of all of their night vision devices to help decide just which units need what and help define\u00a0IVAS\u00a0Next requirements for an upcoming competition,\u00a0one service official\u00a0told Breaking Defense last year.<\/p>\n

Specifically, members of the from the 75th Ranger Regiment were tasked with running IVAS 1.2 through the ringer alongside dedicated night vision systems like the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular (ENVG-B) and another system dubbed PVS-14, the official told Breaking Defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to provide the best feedback in terms of, here\u2019s what the ENVG-B can provide versus a PVS-14 versus the capability inside of IVAS,\u201d the official said. The goal is for those Rangers to provide a \u201cmore mature look\u201d at how they use night vision while also answering questions about the ideal IVAS form factor, battery needs and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The US Army is taking the next step in recompeting its multi-billion dollar\u00a0mixed-reality\u00a0goggle production contract with an official ask to industry to send in viable options. The service published its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-1715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-army","tag-us-army"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/US-ARMY-MICROSOFT.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1715","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1715"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1717,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1715\/revisions\/1717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedefencenews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}