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New rollout for the Army’s $22 billion ‘mixed reality’ combat goggles


New rollout for the Army’s $22 billion ‘mixed reality’ combat goggles

FORT BELVOIR, Va. — The Army’s mixed reality goggle is headed to soldiers in a three-step process in which developers expect two early versions released next year will help with redesigns for a third version to roll out across the Army.

The Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, is a nearly $22 billion program that the Army is developing to bring night vision, thermal vision, tactical edge computing and the situational awareness of a fighter pilot down to the lowest-level infantry soldier. The device will likely be the most advanced single technology ever fielded exclusively to the close-combat, squad-level soldier in military history.

The Army will deliver 5,000 IVAS 1.0 versions and another 5,000 IVAS 1.1 versions this coming year, said Brig. Gen. Christopher Schneider, the Program Executive Office-Soldier commanding general. 

Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.

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