The U.S. Army awarded contracts to a partnership of Anduril and Meta Platforms, and another led by Rivet Industries, to produce competing prototypes of a new combat goggle.
The service in its statement didn’t disclose an overall value for the new program, nor how many new devices will eventually be purchased. Rivet said their contract was valued at $195 million. Anduril announced it was awarded a $159 million contract for the effort.
The gear is meant to help soldiers navigate the battlefield and incorporates technology developed under an earlier program led by Microsoft known as Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, that was once projected to cost the U.S. more than $20 billion over 10 years.
The new program “builds on the capabilities of IVAS, but in a modular approach, and with an increased focus on software engineering and system design,” the Army told Bloomberg in an earlier statement. Anduril took over management of IVAS earlier this year and the Army has relabeled it the “Soldier Borne Mission Command,” or SBMC.
“Lessons learned during IVAS development, as well as observations on the changing nature of current conflicts, have formed the foundation of SBMC, which will also boast a more open, upgradeable” headset, the service said. That’s after spending $1.36 billion on IVAS bankrolling years of research, development and purchase of 500 later-model prototypes.
Meta’s involvement, which was disclosed in an Anduril statement announcing the partnership, adds to signals of the sea change underway for major technology companies that have historically shied away from working with the military. Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth said in June that the “tides have turned” in Silicon Valley, Calif., and made it more palatable for tech companies to do so.
The contracts were awarded under a streamlined contracting mechanism called “Other Transaction Authority” that’s meant to speed delivery of prototypes and address longstanding criticism that the defense industry takes too long to produce advanced systems for the military.
The expanded role for Anduril is part of a push under President Donald Trump for tech companies to be more involved in developing weapons systems previously dominated by old-line defense contractors.
The new system “leverages over 260,000 hours of soldier feedback from the IVAS program and Anduril’s Lattice software to create the foundation for new helmet-mounted mixed reality systems” with the SBMC system, Anduril said in a statement.
Anduril in a statement said it “will design and build a new helmet-mounted mixed reality system for soldier-borne hardware in collaboration with leading technology companies including Meta, Oakley Standard Issue, Qualcomm, Gentex Corporation, and other key partners.”
Late last year, Meta granted approval for U.S. government agencies and defense contractors to use its artificial intelligence models, opening the door for Meta’s technology to play a key role in military and national security efforts.
The company’s “acceptable use policy” had forbidden people from using the models on any projects related to “military, warfare, nuclear industries or applications, (and) espionage.” But Meta decided to make an exception for U.S. defense agencies and their contractors as it works to expand its reach in the public sector and increase its foothold in the burgeoning AI arms race.