Microsoft Corp. has won a $21.88 billion, 10-year U.S. Army contract to make the military's integrated visual augmentation system based on its HoloLens mixed augmented reality smart glasses.
The company said the Army has moved into the production phase of the visual augmentation system project with the contract.
The contract for 120,000 headsets has a five-year base period, with a five-year option after that, the Army said.
The headsets, which will be made in the U.S., are designed to deliver "enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios."
Each standard-issue headset will cost $3,500. The system will use Microsoft's Azure cloud computing.
Troops will be able to see holograms overlaid over their actual environment and interact with the headset using hand and voice gestures. The Army said they allowed soldiers to fight, rehearse and train.
"The headset, based on HoloLens and augmented by Microsoft Azure cloud services, delivers a platform that will keep soldiers safer and make them more effective," according to Microsoft's Alex Kipman.
"The program delivers enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios."
Each headset includes the goggles, an on-body computer and three wearable batteries. The network uses a radio for each soldier and a tactical cloud package for connectivity.
The headset was tested in 2020 by Army special forces, Rangers, Marines and three divisions.
The headsets will be used by close combat formations, infantry, combat engineers and scouts.
