Microsoft has $1.3 billion at stake as US tests HaloLens combat goggles

Microsoft Corp. has an initial stake of $1.3 billion in a test that will begin later this month to determine whether its HaloLens augmented reality glasses can be turned into an effective combat system for the US military.

The month-long test from May 23 to June 17 will be evaluated by the Pentagon Test Office to determine if the headset is ready for full production and initial deployment.

The Redmond, Wash.-based company’s project aims to develop a “heads-up display” for US ground forces, similar to those used by fighter pilots. The integrated visual augmentation system would allow commanders to project information onto a visor in front of a soldier’s face and include features such as night vision.

So far, the military and the test office have said the goggles show promise but aren’t ready for combat deployment, and the service has delayed putting them into the field in favor of this month’s evaluation. -this.

“We’ll be looking carefully at those results to ultimately know where we’re going” with the program, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday. “I feel pretty comfortable where this program is,” she said. “We’ve worked very closely with Microsoft, and I think this program is on the right track.”

This is a potential $21.9 billion program over 10 years for no less than 121,500 eyewear, spare parts, logistics and program management support. In fact, “less than half of that total is possible for the U.S. military,” Maj. Gen. Anthony Potts, the service’s program director for soldier systems, told the Pentagon’s inspector general in rebuttal. of the service to a critical report published last month.

The $21.9 billion represents “a contract cap that includes all possible hardware, components and services over a 10-year period at the worst possible price structure,” Potts wrote. He said the full estimate also includes “all possible sales to sister services, foreign military sales and all maxed out service contracts.”

At the time, a Microsoft official said in an email that the company was continuing to develop the glasses as a “transformative platform” that would improve the safety and effectiveness of soldiers, without addressing questions about the potential size of the contract. Microsoft declined to comment further on Thursday.

This month’s crucial test will focus on whether a light infantry unit equipped with scopes can accomplish their missions in a simulated combat environment, demonstrating “soldier proficiency in lethality tasks while maintaining a situational awareness and allowing the commander to make decisions,” test office spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell told.

Soldiers will be evaluated while wearing the device day or night, as they share graphics, positional information “and the ability to detect and engage targets,” according to the testers. Eyewear will be evaluated on whether the field of vision and comfort allow for good mobility so soldiers can perform their duties.

Regardless of the program’s ultimate value over the next decade, a positive “Rapid Commissioning Report” from the Test Office could free up at least $1.3 billion in pending or requested spending, starting with $167 million in unspent procurement funds for fiscal year 2021 and $405 million this year.

There’s also $333 million on a $373 million order placed in March 2021 for the initial order of 5,000 glasses; only $40 million was paid to Microsoft. The Army will not take delivery until the May test is successfully completed, according to service spokesman Jamal Beck.

There is an additional $400 million requested in fiscal year 2023 procurement funds for a new order of 6,898 sets of eyewear.