The Rangers from 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, participated in new equipment training on the IVAS Capability Set 4 during tropical weather testing in March 2021.
Supposedly, the Army-specific version of Microsoft’s “mixed reality” goggles resulted in mission-affecting physical impairments.
Bloomberg News recently published a report concerning the reported problems with military-issued night vision goggles. According to the report, 80% of those who experienced discomfort noted that their symptoms started after less than three hours of wearing them.
Nicholas Guertin, director of DoD’s Operation Test & Evaluation, said in the report that was obtained by Bloomberg that those issues must be addressed. The Army should “prioritize improvements” before a wider fielding so it can reduce the “physical discomfort of users,”Guertin said.
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The Army has been testing the Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS, for years. Some details about this system were recently published in a JSOC report. This program will be tested at various sites until 2020 and will hopefully be released by that time.
The appeal of Army goggles, they found, is that they give low-level leaders the ability to individually train new soldiers in various drills, building up small unit skillsets.
Military-grade googles help soldiers identify their enemies, which is much easier to do with a heads-up display than trying to flip through an outdated map.
A recently published report by experts at military technology company BAE Systems highlighted in detail the needs for improvements among many of the latest developments of the military’s virtual reality goggles, according to Bloomberg. Key functions that needed improvement included low-light sensors, visibility and clarity, coordination in tactical missions and units movements, according to the report.
The Army’s budget for the technology includes spare parts and support services, but also includes huge upfront costs to purchase the goggles. The overall cost is estimated to be around $24 Billion for this program alone over the next decade.
But while budget and estimates view these goggles in a positive light, the report shows that soldiers may not be as infatuated with the goggles as planners are.
Despite soldiers and leaders seeing the goggles as ineffective, the level of acceptance remains low. This is according to a Defense Department report published on July 9th, which determines that both soldiers and their commanders don’t think the goggles make a difference on the battlefield.
Microsoft was the first company to get a copy of the Pentagon’s test results, and decided to develop improved goggles in return. It will be fulfilling preorders for the public by 2020.
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Close to 5,000 soldiers are on the waiting list to compete in the program and will be able to participate this year. The Army is seeking feedback from external sources about how to deal with issues raised by the testing office.
It seems that, despite these numbers, Bush is still willing to allow the Army to start accepting the inital 5,000 sets of goggles.
