Microsoft Wins $479 Million Army Contract for Augmented Reality Systems

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Microsoft has secured a $479 million-plus contract with the U.S. Army for Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) prototypes, Bloomberg reported Wednesday, expanding its relationship with the military and beating out a slew of other companies competing for the contract.

According to the government proposal, the program is intended to “accelerate lethal defensive and offensive capabilities utilizing innovative components.” Bloomberg reported the contract could lead to the military buying more than 100,000 augmented reality headsets from Microsoft, positioning the military as a massive consumer of its HoloLens technology. Specifications provided by the military show the devices seem intended for use in active combat roles: