The U.S. Army's key project, the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, a key part of the future warrior, has been suspended

According to reports from foreign military websites such as Jane's Defense and Military and Aerospace Electronics, one of the U.S. Army's future key projects, the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) goggles, which is known as one of the components of the "future warrior" or even the "super soldier", has been "suspended."

Soldiers from the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division use the latest IVAS prototype during a training exercise in October 2020. (U.S. Army photo)

On October 12, 2021, Brigadier General William Glaser, director of the Synthetic Training Environment Cross-Functional Team, told Jane's Defense that the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology (ASAALT) has paused the service's Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) to re-determine the project's timeline and technical maturity.

The Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) goggles are derived from the head-up display of Microsoft's HoloLens 2 virtual reality helmet (you can find related products by searching for "HoloLens2 AR glasses helmet" on the search engine). This helmet is equipped with a variety of environmental sensors and can integrate existing high-resolution night, temperature and individual soldier-carried sensors into a unified head-up display to provide better situational awareness, target engagement, virtual reality training and intelligence decision-making.

Commercial version prototype

At the same time, the US military also stated that this new type of goggles can help soldiers see directly through the body of combat vehicles. That is, while sitting in an infantry fighting vehicle, the sensor on the helmet can be directly connected to the camera outside the vehicle, making the vehicle body transparent in the eyes of the soldiers. They can sit in the vehicle and directly see the situation outside the vehicle, which means that the infantry will have unparalleled situational awareness capabilities.

It is really nice to be able to see what is happening outside the car directly while sitting in the car. Some future concept cars are currently researching related technologies and have made some demonstrations.

In this case, the driver actually sees a completely transparent vehicle without a windshield.

In the US military's conception, the integrated visual augmentation system (IVAS) goggles can also provide navigation (including path markers, activity maps, etc.), night vision, thermal imaging, artificial intelligence and other functions, and can even project digital maps and other data onto the lens, directly connect to the Joint Global Command and Control System (JADC2) being developed by the US military, and directly guide air or ground fire strikes. It is infinitely close to the UI system in the super soldier helmet in computer games.

The US military itself is not shy about it, and even uses the "Thor's Hammer" power armor helmet of the protagonist Master Chief in the game "Halo" as an example.

Synonymous with "super soldier"

Civilian field ideas

Microsoft is also very proud of this and has been promoting this big order - a $479 million contract that Microsoft won in 2019 to provide the U.S. Army with an Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) system prototype. Then on April 14, 2021, Microsoft received a 10-year, $21.9 billion (some reports say nearly $22 billion) contract from the U.S. Army to supply more than 120,000 Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) system devices to the Army in the next decade.

However, the contract is now in jeopardy as the U.S. Army has decided to suspend the project after several months of trials.

Although the specific reason is still unclear, according to some previous sporadic reports, there is still a problem with the maturity of the technology: this advanced helmet, which was originally designed for use in conventional urban environments, often has problems in actual combat tests and will malfunction at the slightest change in temperature, not to mention working with soldiers in various environments.

Earlier this year, U.S. soldiers conducted cold weather tests of the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) at the Army Test and Evaluation Command's Cold Weather Test Center in Fort Greely, Alaska. Since then, the U.S. Army has "paused" the project. Therefore, some foreign media speculated that there was a problem with the goggles in cold weather. (U.S. Army photo)

Another problem is that it is heavy. The goggles that integrate a large number of functions become very heavy. Soldiers who participated in the test generally reported that their necks felt tired, they were unable to fight for a long time, and it was difficult to turn their heads.

Then there is the fast power consumption, which is also a negative effect brought by a large number of functions. If it is separated from the vehicle (there is a charging port on the vehicle) and fights alone, it will not last long. The US military is currently researching a new type of battery - "conformal wearable battery" (CWB) to make up for this problem.

The "Conformal Wearable Battery" (CWB) looks like a bulletproof plate. It can be worn in a bag with bulletproof plates on the sides, chest or back, and can be bent to match the soldier's movements. It cannot catch fire or explode even if hit by bullets or shrapnel. It is considered a supporting project for the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS).

Before the above problems are solved, the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) does not have actual combat capability and can only be used as training equipment. The US military has taken a big step.

The PLA has also developed an advanced helmet similar to the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), but it has fewer functions than the US military, just a simple drop-down monocular display/camera/night vision device. At the time, some netizens expressed their incomprehension. Now it seems that it is a compromise made due to cost, weight and energy consumption issues.

The test version is almost the same as the US military version

The installed version is a single-purpose one. Although it is simple, it has been equipped to the troops. The PLA has distributed the functions originally integrated in the goggles to various subsystems of the whole body.

The officers and soldiers of a brigade of the Tibet Military Region use this system. This is not playing with mobile phones on the battlefield.

Goggles, smart watches, and mobile phones worn on chests are also derived from commercial products. The People's Liberation Army calls it "military-civilian integration" and the US military calls it "rapid procurement (commercial off-the-shelf)."

Larger, more versatile AR goggles are used for training

At least for now, China and the United States have reached the same conclusion on the choice of AR goggles: for training purposes only.