Under the partnership, Anduril will integrate its Lattice open software platform into the revolutionary goggles to enable operators to see threats faster across the battlespace.

The software utilizes sensor fusion, computer vision, edge computing, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI) to detect, track, and classify every object of interest in the operator’s surroundings.

Once activated, Lattice is expected to augment IVAS’ capabilities, enhancing soldier survivability in complex and contested environments.

“It’s one of the Army’s most critical programs being fielded in the near future,” Anduril founder Palmer Luckey said, referring to the IVAS. He added that the goal of the partnership is to ensure the device “gets the right data to the right people at the right time.”

‘Bringing a Full Picture’

According to Anduril, Lattice works by fusing multiple sensors, data, and assets into a single, AI-enabled software interface to automatically detect and monitor threats.

It employs advanced data processing techniques to filter high-value information, enabling operators to react to the most immediate threats first.

The software can also be used to further investigate threats by coordinating with other available platforms, such as drones and aircraft.

The company noted that its Lattice platform is also suited for monitoring land and maritime borders, as it can alert human operators to objects of interest through their desktop or mobile phones.

“IVAS brings a full picture of the battlefield to every soldier, enabling safer and more effective operations,” Microsoft VP of Mixed Reality Robin Seiler stated.

“Our collaboration with Anduril to integrate their suite of critical sensors … demonstrates the transformative capability of this fighting goggle and will allow us to further expand the impact IVAS will have for every US soldier.”

Struggling Program

Launched in 2018, the IVAS program aims to produce augmented reality goggles that are said to revolutionize how soldiers train and operate on the battlefield.

However, the initiative has faced challenges, with soldiers reporting disorientation, dizziness, eyestrain, and headaches after trying the equipment.

User feedback also revealed that fewer targets were hit when they used the early versions of the device.

The US Congress has already withheld nearly $350 million in funding for the goggles, with a Pentagon official claiming that the US Army might just waste billions of dollars on the program.

US Army Futures Command head Gen. James Rainey also stated that the upcoming operational tests of the IVAS goggles may determine the fate of the troubled initiative.

The post Anduril to Revive US Army’s Troubled IVAS Program, Partners With Microsoft appeared first on The Defense Post.

CAMS has been constructed to support the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Digital Manufacturing Research Team (DMRT), a unit leading studies of new industrial techniques centered on digital and computer systems to improve the production of tactical equipment.

Operational solutions at the CAMS site include autonomous manufacturing platforms, collaborative robotics, and simulation hardware.

Leveraging Extended Reality, Motion Capture System

CAMS utilizes extended reality technology to coordinate research between laboratory and field experts, enhancing works across manufacturing lines for quick turnarounds and repair depots to ensure rapid tactical equipment refitting and availability.

“We have a big research thrust on how to use augmented and virtual reality to bring additional capability to these operators,” DMRT Lead Dr. Sean Donegan explained.

“As an example, when completing a riveting task to put a panel back on a plane, operators would wear an augmented reality headset that would project all of the places that needed a rivet onto the plane.”

CAMS also incorporates a motion capture system used in the film and video game industry, allowing the creation of the facility’s own artificial intelligence-powered “digital twin” for virtual tests including experimentation in a cloud-based environment.

“The definition of digital manufacturing is constantly evolving,” Donegan said. “For us, what it means is, how do we continue to advance manufacturing capabilities for the warfighter? This lab allows us to become expert practitioners in developing those novel capabilities.”

Strategic Response

The air force said the launch of CAMS and its digital manufacturing function aligns with the Air Force Materiel Command’s 2023 Strategic Plan, which highlighted the transition of mission systems into more advanced capabilities that could address evolving warfighter requirements.

“In the era of the Great Power Competition, [Air Force Research Laboratory] is definitely here to deliver capability and technology, but it’s not enough just to do that,” Air Force Research Laboratory Materials and Manufacturing Director Darrell Phillipson stated.

“You have to be able to get it out the door. The CAMS Lab will be essential in responding to that need.”

The post US Air Force Launches Collaborative Manufacturing Research Laboratory in Ohio appeared first on The Defense Post.

The demonstration is part of the service’s research on modern training approaches that could amplify airmen’s preparations, boosting the production of frontline fighter pilots in the future.

To be held later this year, the effort will evaluate the Advanced Tactical Augmented Reality System (ATARS) developed by Florida-based AR firm Red 6.

ATARS displays virtual enemies through a visor, assisting operators in practicing their localization, identification, and neutralization skills alongside other aircraft or synthetic personnel in a dynamic environment.

The air force said the AR technology is expected to reduce the dependency on live assets, increase fuel efficiency, and generate more training sessions per flying hour for warfighters.

Work for the associated integrations will be conducted in partnership with the British government’s National Security Strategic Investment Fund.

Enhancing Pilot Training

According to the Royal Air Force, the results from the upcoming ATARS flight test will contribute to the service’s ongoing feasibility processes that would approve AR solutions for future flight training strategies.

Once accepted, ATARS will be further developed to integrate constant update functions, adapting the capability to the service’s evolving training requirements.

“Exploitation of novel technologies is an essential part of ensuring the RAF is able to sustain our combat edge and succeed on operations against a constantly evolving adversary,” a statement from the Royal Air Force said.

“We are always looking for opportunities that innovative technologies potentially offer to improve our training delivery.”

“Working collaboratively with industry we were able to deliver this contract at pace to allow the RAF to investigate this exciting technology to help inform future decisions around fighter pilots training.”

BAE and Red 6 signed a collaborative agreement in December 2022 for future integrations of AR technologies into the Hawk.

The Hawk T2

Manufactured by BAE, the Hawk T2 jet is specifically designed to serve as an airborne training platform for the British military.

It incorporates avionics with functions similar to modern combat aircraft, a debrief system that records the detailed output of each practice session, realistic “weapon drop” and electronic warfare capability, as well as advanced radar for basic maneuver and intercept lessons.

The Hawk T2 has a fuselage length of 12.4 meters (41 feet), a wingspan of 9.1 meters (30 feet), and a maximum takeoff weight of 9,100 kilograms (20,000 pounds).

It is powered by a Rolls Royce Turbomeca Adour engine for a top speed of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) per hour and a range of 2,520 kilometers (1,566 miles).

The post BAE to Test Augmented Reality on British Hawk Trainer Jet appeared first on The Defense Post.

The demonstration is part of Madrid’s effort introduced in 2017 to boost the communication, information, and fire efficiency capabilities of warfighters on the battlefield through digitized equipment by the end of the decade.

For this purpose, Indra developed Future Soldier System (SISCAP), an augmented reality suite comprising a helmet-attachable optical system to visualize the wearer’s team and predict markers on threats and identified targets.

Held at the Toledo Infantry Academy, the recent event saw the SISCAP technology put into simulated reconnaissance missions, all-day surveillance deployments, as well as live firing.

SISCAP has day and night configurations and works with visible and thermal cameras to collect images in any environment.

The platform also incorporates a radio to transmit voice and data for regroupings and associated coordination processes.

SISCAP also provides a separate viewfinder and camera for a foot soldier’s firearm to enhance the weapon’s accuracy and support near non-line-of-sight shooting.

This attachment projects its captured images onto the personnel’s headset, securing the team when turning and maneuvering in complex terrain or enclosed spaces. It includes controls to maintain communications without requiring combatants to release their weapons and to decrease friendly fire incidents.

Simultaneously, platoon leaders can use a SISCAP tablet connected to the battlefield management system to sustain operability and information across the chain of command.

Indra wrote that the system’s modular design allows future integration of palm-sized microdrones, additional functionalities, AI-enabled target discrimination, and effective maintenance.

Situational Awareness at the ‘Highest Level’

Indra said more SISCAP tests are scheduled in the coming months to finalize the solution’s compatibility with the Spanish Army’s 8×8 Dragon armored fighting vehicle, further establishing communications between the units and headquarters.

Work for SISCAP is being facilitated in collaboration with the Spanish Directorate General for Armaments and Material and Madrid-based industry partner GMV Aerospace & Defence.

“The system will provide soldiers with the most advanced digital capabilities and will provide them with a situational awareness of the highest level, by giving them a vision capacity enriched with the information collected by all their colleagues and other deployed means,” Indra Manager Gregorio González explained.

“One of the great advantages of the system is that it is modular and scalable, which allows it to be adapted to the mission being carried out, ensuring maximum ergonomics and minimum weight.”

The post Indra Demos Tactical Augmented Reality Tech for Spanish Army appeared first on The Defense Post.

Under the deal, the Georgia-based firm will build, demonstrate, and deploy a next-generation training platform for the army’s Operator Maintainer Immersive Virtual Reality Environment for Intelligence Training (OMNIVORE-IT) project.

The resulting system will leverage augmented intelligence and spatial computing technologies to create a virtual training space for warfighters.

Sigma wrote that the task order confirms the company’s dedication to employing advanced solutions that amplify warfighter performance across combined joint all-domain command and control missions.

Work for the contract will be facilitated for one year in partnership with Virginia-based augmented and virtual reality developer Brightline Interactive.

“The ability … to create an ecosystem that can be instantaneously changed and deployed will provide soldiers field-level maintenance training for all emerging Intelligence Warfighting Function systems as well as some enduring systems across multiple training domains,” Sigma Defense Executive Vice President Thor James stated.

“In addition, the utilization of cloud based spatial computing, AI workflows, and augmented reality environments are innovative, next-generation technologies that further enable our vision of autonomously connecting people, systems, and data using open-source standards.”

US Army’s Latest VR Training Efforts

The US Army announced the start of tests for its Texas-based virtual indoor military training environments in March.

In February, the agency completed a virtual shooting training using an AI-enabled weapon simulator for special forces personnel in Colorado.

A month earlier, the army awarded a contract to defense industry partner CAE for simulators that will train practice pilots of the Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft.

In 2021, the US Department of Defense launched a virtual reality simulation center to prepare ground troops for air defense systems operations.

The post Sigma Defense to Develop VR System for US Army Intelligence Training appeared first on The Defense Post.

These platforms support the service’s efforts to employ realistic, modern battlefield preparations for warfighters by combining augmented, virtual, and gaming technologies.

They were installed at the Close Combat Tactical Trainer hub at Fort Cavazos for evaluation.

According to the army, the information collected from utilizing these new solutions will be the basis of future practices focusing on interoperability between aerial and ground troops stationed at different sites.

Benchmarks identified in the trials will include the systems’ limits and applications for additional virtual reality-based training use cases.

“You can do training virtually instead of physically going out in the field and having to spend the fuel, the ammo, and the logistics of moving chow and everything,” US Army Operational Test Command (OTC) Assistant Test Officer Robert Carroll stated.

“The idea is, you could send some of this equipment over and you could set some of this up instead of those units having to leave to go out and do their training.”

“They could actually fire these up and do a collective training as well as – with this being networked – they should be able to reach back to wherever and still be participating in collective training with other elements.”

Initial Test Platoon

The first group selected to validate the STE’s effectiveness includes personnel from the 1st Cavalry Division (1st CAV), which specializes in armored fleets such as the Stryker and Bradley fighting vehicles and Abrams main battle tanks.

Abrams Loader Spc. Tanner James Peake highlighted one of the benefits of using STE solutions.

“I think the [virtual reality] goggles are a major upgrade for the loader and the tank commander because you can actually see outside of the tank and see where you’re going versus having to look through a hatch all the time. Those are really the upsides.”

Gathering Insights

Experiences and feedback from the 1st CAV are being transmitted to the Army Evaluation Center at the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, where they are evaluated by experts and relayed to senior leaders for decision-making.

“We’re looking to see if they’re running into an issue, how they overcome the issue, and those Soldier interactions are recorded, so we really capture what is going well with system, what’s not going so well with system, and how it can be improved for the Soldier if it gets fielded,” OTC Military Test Plans Analyst Shelby Schoolcraft explained.

“We’re doing a test that evaluates the ability for the system to be effective, suitable, and survivable for the Soldier to train on.”

The post US Army Tests Virtual Simulation Environment for Indoor Military Training appeared first on The Defense Post.

The demonstration is part of Lockheed’s “Maintainer as a Node” concept, a strategy to relay all maintenance-related information to corresponding personnel in latency-sensitive environments.

During the trial, the consortium validated the technology’s prime functions, including complex visualization through augmented, virtual, and extended reality, real-time 3D content streaming, and data transmission to “edge” equipment such as head-mounted displays, tablets, and mobile devices.

The simulation involved a multi-user augmented reality projection of a large 3D computer-aided design airspace to multiple geolocations streaming in real time.

Display receivers comprised a HoloLens integrated with Verizon’s proprietary 5G Edge platform. The company leveraged existing networks to establish communications for the test.

Supporting Future Military Sustainment

According to Lockheed, the demonstration illustrates the importance of streaming methods to enhance future sustainment tasks, accompanying data security, and content efficacy and effectiveness.

“This effort demonstrates how Verizon’s partnership with Lockheed Martin leverages the immense capabilities of 5G and edge computing to transform data streaming and [augmented reality] experiences to produce advanced capabilities for military sustainment operations,” Verizon Product Strategy and Innovation VP Chris Halton stated.

The consortium’s 3D streaming effort coincides with Lockheed and Verizon’s broader partnership to modernize vital 5G-based data-sharing applications for the DoD.

This initiative combines commercial and government technology to improve ”security, resiliency, interoperability and performance” for US military users.

“Streaming is the future, and through our strategic collaboration with Verizon, together we’re advancing crucial 21st Century Security technologies that drive speed, efficiency, quality and reliability where our customers need it most,” Lockheed Martin Skunk Works Virtual Prototyping Senior Manager Marc O’Brien said.

Recent Tactical 5G Projects

The Lockheed-Verizon team conducted a separate test last year to assess their joint 5G-powered drone project.

This demonstration exhibited four rotary-wing drones, corresponding high-speed intelligence surveillance, and reconnaissance data connection designed to detect and geolocate threats. 

In March 2022, Lockheed announced it would develop 5G technology to connect communication networks between military vehicles on the battlefield.

The solution’s hardware is similar to a laptop computer with the weight and size of a car battery.

The post Lockheed, Verizon Showcase 5G-Powered 3D Streaming Tech appeared first on The Defense Post.

The agreement will deliver a T-38C flight model, cockpit, and associated training environment to support the aerial dominance training facilitated by the 19th Air Force and the Air Education Training Command.

The prototype will be created inside Metrea’s commercial gaming ecosystem, NOR.

It is built with Unreal Engine 5, a 3D creation tool that produces physics-based and fully immersive digital environments.

Users can utilize NOR through mixed-reality simulation rigs, VR headsets, or fully-physical simulators.

“Billions of users around the world are driving constant innovation in the commercial gaming ecosystem, but all too often military simulation users are stuck decades behind,” Metrea Simulations Managing Director Niclas Colliander stated.

“With NOR, Metrea has been building a simulation platform for military users that will constantly benefit from the improvements of the commercial gaming industry.”

“We are super excited to partner with DIU and the 19th Air Force to deliver this capability to help new pilots train better, faster, and orders-of-magnitude more affordably.”

US Air Force’s Latest Virtual Reality Contracts

HTX Labs received a contract earlier this September to deliver immersive training content and related support equipment for the US Air Force and Space Force.

In April, California-based GigXR signed a contract to develop an extended reality training module for the service’s 354th Medical Group in Alaska.

SimX, another simulator developer on the West Coast, received a contract a month earlier to build a virtual reality solution supporting en-route medical care training in the air force.

The firm was awarded a separate project in February to expand virtual prehospital casualty care preparations in the service.

The post Metrea Simulations to Build Virtual Talon Jet Trainer for US Air Force appeared first on The Defense Post.

The $16-million agreement supports an ongoing modernization effort of helmet equipment used in the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division’s Block III F/A-18E Super Hornet multirole combat jets and EA-18G Growler electronic warfare aircraft.

Zero-G HMDS+

With the contract, CEVS introduced its Zero-G Helmet Mounted Display System+ (HMDS+), a technology projecting an augmented view of the battlefield for enhanced effectiveness, rapid decision-making, and increased survivability.

Zero-G HMDS+ was developed to provide advanced helmet-mounted lenses for pilots of 4th, 5th, and 6th generation US military fighters as well as other allied fixed-wing fleets.

Technologies incorporated into the system were based on CEVS’ experiences in manufacturing mounted displays for F-35 Lightning II stealth multirole aircraft.

Zero-G HMDS+ features a convenient and lightweight design to reduce physiological strain for pilots when deployed on longer and more complex missions.

Furthermore, the head-worn device relays information quickly in full color with a 360-degree view to support the “see through the plane” advantage in each integrated aircraft, even at night.

“The team followed a new development process that incorporated early and continuous pilot input to field the best solution,” CEVS Co-General Manager Jeff Hoberg explained.

“The result is an innovative and adaptable HMDS that will follow a long, successful line of fielded HMDS from CEVS.”

The post Collins Elbit Vision Systems to Develop Helmet-Mounted Display for US Navy appeared first on The Defense Post.

American tech firm Microsoft delivered the upgraded military goggles earlier this week to undergo a critical design test, according to IVAS product manager Lt. Col. Denny Dresch.

The test will determine if the changes in design are enough for soldiers to safely and comfortably use them during combat.

In 2021, the US Army postponed the deployment of the next-generation goggles after discovering a serious issue with their wider “field of view.”

IVAS developers reportedly made “minor reductions” in the system to improve device quality and clarity.

“That [test] will give us a good initial view [of] if we’re headed in the right direction, then we have to go to more and more difficult tests,” army acquisition head Doug Bush said, as quoted by Breaking Defense.

Trials on the 20 IVAS 1.2 prototypes are expected to be carried out in August.

Worst-Case Scenario

Based on Microsoft’s HoloLens device, the IVAS goggles are envisioned to revolutionize how soldiers fight on the battlefield.

The tech consists of a ruggedized augmented reality and heads-up display system that allows troops to see through smoke, around corners, and in the dark.

Bush said the upcoming test will serve as a “very important data point” that will provide the US Army with more subjective feedback about the goggles.

If the equipment still does not meet expectations after the trials, he revealed that the service will consider re-opening the competition to find a more suitable vendor.

“The combat capability has always been the Army’s first priority, that was an early decision. Were it not to work out, we’d likely just do a new competition, perhaps with somewhat different requirements to see what else is out there,” Bush said.

“There are other companies that could come to the table.”

Problematic Design

The previous version, the IVAS 1.0, faced a multitude of problems leading to the development of the new, upgraded model.

According to the Pentagon’s chief weapons tester, the infantry unit that tested the device was more successful in accomplishing their missions with their current equipment.

Soldiers reportedly hit fewer targets and engaged more slowly when they wore the IVAS 1.0.

Some also reported suffering from disorientation, dizziness, eyestrain, headaches, motion sickness, nausea, and neck strain after using the goggles.

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