Microsoft wins US Army contract for AR headsets worth almost $22 billion

Microsoft will deliver 120,000 AR headsets to the US Army. The device is based on HoloLens 2 and lets soldiers see in the dark and project additional information on a visor. The deal is worth $21.88 billion.

Image credit: Microsoft

Microsoft confirmed the news on its official blog. The company says that the new headset will keep soldiers safer and make them more effective. “The program delivers enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios,” wrote engineer Alex Kipman, who was the lead developer of HoloLens.

The new deal with the US Army follows a contract worth $480 million that Microsoft won in 2018. The company has tested different prototypes of its military AR glasses over the last couple of years and will now move to the production and delivery of these devices, which can be used both in training and combat.

The new AR headset, based on HoloLens 2, provides numerous features, including night vision and thermal imager. It also lets commanders project information on a visor in front of a soldier’s face and peer around corners without moving.

In 2019, Microsoft beat out Amazon and won a contract to provide cloud services to the Defense Department. The company’s Azure technology will also be included in the new military AR headsets.