US Army straps on another mixed-reality gamble with Anduril, Rivet
(2025/09/09)
- Reference: 1757435980
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/09/09/us_army_anduril_headset/
- Source link:
The US Army's troubled attempt at outfitting soldiers with mixed-reality headsets is getting a $354 million boost and a new pair of lead contractors as part of a second attempt to make the kit stick without making troops sick.
The feds have awarded Palmer Luckey's Anduril [1]$159 million for prototyping a new combination night vision/augmented reality/AI-enabled headset for the Army's renamed Soldier Borne Mission Command (SBMC) program. Rivet Industries, a defense tech startup founded in 2024 by a group of former Palantir executives, was awarded [2]$195 million to test, iterate, develop, and help field whatever headset turns out to work best for Army soldiers.
According to the original [3]solicitation for the SBMC program published by the US Army in April, it wants helmet-mounted headsets able to provide situational awareness and mission command capabilities for soldiers in the field at the company level and below, down to the small squad units that perform the bulk of Army field actions. The Army wants the headset to pull in data from a variety of sensors and sources to help soldiers make faster, safer, and more operationally efficient decisions, something that Anduril said is difficult due to intel getting "trapped in silos" because of a lack of battlefield tech integration.
[4]
"The result," Anduril said in its press release, is that "warfighters lose precious seconds just trying to get a common picture of the fight."
[5]
[6]
In other words, the Army is hoping SBMC headsets and the data they provide can cut through the constantly shifting fog of war – a problem that has plagued militaries since the earliest days of organized warfare thanks to the chaos inherent in combat.
Third time's the charm?
The award to Anduril to lead development of the SBMC project is natural given its incumbent role in the Army's previous iteration of mixed-reality headsets for ground troops – though that's a technicality at best.
The previous mixed reality program, called the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), was in the hands of Anduril when it gave way to the SBMC project in April, but Anduril wasn't the lead contractor for the bulk of the largely failed program. That honor belongs to Microsoft, which handed management of IVAS off to Palantir in February 2025 after four years of delays.
Microsoft was originally awarded [7]$22 billion in 2021 for custom-made HoloLens headsets for the US Army, but those headsets were [8]delayed that same year, likely due to "mission-affecting physical impairments" like headaches, nausea, and eyestrain experienced by soldiers testing the project in the field.
[9]
Army officials have long been [10]skeptical of the project, as was Congress, which [11]froze funding for the program in 2023 and told the Army to focus on fixing problems with the headset instead of plowing ahead with the existing design.
[12]Anduril picks Ohio for 5 million square foot autonomous weapon factory
[13]DARPA worried battlefield mixed reality vulnerable to 'cognitive attacks'
[14]Military-tech upstart Anduril pushes further into NATO with German arms maker deal
[15]Meta – yep, Facebook Meta – is now a defense contractor
The second iteration of IVAS, version 1.2, was tested by the Army last year, but results haven't been made public. IVAS headsets have reportedly been deployed to the US-Mexico border as part of President Trump's push to secure the region from illegal immigration, indicating that they may not have been a total failure, but soldiers have [16]reportedly still questioned whether the hardware makes them more effective at their jobs.
An Anduril spokesperson told The Register that it's still managed to make use of the IVAS 1.2 headsets developed by Microsoft when testing integration of its own software into the project, but that SBMC will involve the development of entirely new Anduril-designed hardware that adds features including night vision.
In short, Microsoft may have helped blaze the trail, but US Army HoloLenses are now [17]just as dead as the consumer model.
Expecting Anduril and Rivet to deliver SBMC with less than 2 percent of the budget Microsoft got for IVAS is a tall order, though much of the "what not to do" work has already been done for them.
[18]
Anduril told us that it hopes it can leverage lessons learned from the IVAS program (and Luckey's history with AR and VR) to get SBMC done cheaper and more efficiently. Luckey's outfit won't be working directly with Rivet on the project, we're told, so it'll be up to both to use that limited cash wisely.
Rivet has been in touch to tell us that, despite what its press release suggested about its role in SBMC being limited to helping deliver the headsets, it will also be involved in the design phase, while confirming it's not working with Anduril for its part of the project.
"We are developing a comprehensive, modular architecture that includes glasses-form-factor displays, compute modules, and body-borne sensors, all connected through an extensible software layer," a Rivet spokesperson told us in an email. "We do not have a collaboration agreement with Anduril on SBMC; our role as prime contractor is to deliver a solution that meets the Army’s requirements for modularity, extensibility, and integration."
In other words, it looks like the Army learned its lesson with the ill-fated IVAS program and isn't putting all its eggs in one Microsoft-shaped basket this time around.
"Our clean-sheet solution has been shaped directly by Soldier input and carries no legacy of Big Tech compromises or failed consumer devices," Rivet added. Ouch. ®
Updated at 1749 to add new comments from Rivet.
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.anduril.com/article/anduril-awarded-contract-to-redefine-the-future-of-mixed-reality/
[2] https://www.rivet.us/sbmc
[3] https://sam.gov/opp/bbb0747e80dd4e47a218cb1f75e247a4/view
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/microsoft_us_army_hololens_contract/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/15/us_army_delays_microsoft_ivas_vr_project/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/26/army_microsoft_headset/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/12/congress_hololens_microsoft/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/16/anduril_auto_weapon_factory/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/12/darpa_worried_battlefield_mixed_reality/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/18/anduril_rheinmetall_drones/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/30/meta_is_now_a_defense/
[16] https://taskandpurpose.com/news/soldiers-testing-tech-at-border/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/02/microsoft_hololens_2_dead/
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The feds have awarded Palmer Luckey's Anduril [1]$159 million for prototyping a new combination night vision/augmented reality/AI-enabled headset for the Army's renamed Soldier Borne Mission Command (SBMC) program. Rivet Industries, a defense tech startup founded in 2024 by a group of former Palantir executives, was awarded [2]$195 million to test, iterate, develop, and help field whatever headset turns out to work best for Army soldiers.
According to the original [3]solicitation for the SBMC program published by the US Army in April, it wants helmet-mounted headsets able to provide situational awareness and mission command capabilities for soldiers in the field at the company level and below, down to the small squad units that perform the bulk of Army field actions. The Army wants the headset to pull in data from a variety of sensors and sources to help soldiers make faster, safer, and more operationally efficient decisions, something that Anduril said is difficult due to intel getting "trapped in silos" because of a lack of battlefield tech integration.
[4]
"The result," Anduril said in its press release, is that "warfighters lose precious seconds just trying to get a common picture of the fight."
[5]
[6]
In other words, the Army is hoping SBMC headsets and the data they provide can cut through the constantly shifting fog of war – a problem that has plagued militaries since the earliest days of organized warfare thanks to the chaos inherent in combat.
Third time's the charm?
The award to Anduril to lead development of the SBMC project is natural given its incumbent role in the Army's previous iteration of mixed-reality headsets for ground troops – though that's a technicality at best.
The previous mixed reality program, called the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), was in the hands of Anduril when it gave way to the SBMC project in April, but Anduril wasn't the lead contractor for the bulk of the largely failed program. That honor belongs to Microsoft, which handed management of IVAS off to Palantir in February 2025 after four years of delays.
Microsoft was originally awarded [7]$22 billion in 2021 for custom-made HoloLens headsets for the US Army, but those headsets were [8]delayed that same year, likely due to "mission-affecting physical impairments" like headaches, nausea, and eyestrain experienced by soldiers testing the project in the field.
[9]
Army officials have long been [10]skeptical of the project, as was Congress, which [11]froze funding for the program in 2023 and told the Army to focus on fixing problems with the headset instead of plowing ahead with the existing design.
[12]Anduril picks Ohio for 5 million square foot autonomous weapon factory
[13]DARPA worried battlefield mixed reality vulnerable to 'cognitive attacks'
[14]Military-tech upstart Anduril pushes further into NATO with German arms maker deal
[15]Meta – yep, Facebook Meta – is now a defense contractor
The second iteration of IVAS, version 1.2, was tested by the Army last year, but results haven't been made public. IVAS headsets have reportedly been deployed to the US-Mexico border as part of President Trump's push to secure the region from illegal immigration, indicating that they may not have been a total failure, but soldiers have [16]reportedly still questioned whether the hardware makes them more effective at their jobs.
An Anduril spokesperson told The Register that it's still managed to make use of the IVAS 1.2 headsets developed by Microsoft when testing integration of its own software into the project, but that SBMC will involve the development of entirely new Anduril-designed hardware that adds features including night vision.
In short, Microsoft may have helped blaze the trail, but US Army HoloLenses are now [17]just as dead as the consumer model.
Expecting Anduril and Rivet to deliver SBMC with less than 2 percent of the budget Microsoft got for IVAS is a tall order, though much of the "what not to do" work has already been done for them.
[18]
Anduril told us that it hopes it can leverage lessons learned from the IVAS program (and Luckey's history with AR and VR) to get SBMC done cheaper and more efficiently. Luckey's outfit won't be working directly with Rivet on the project, we're told, so it'll be up to both to use that limited cash wisely.
Rivet has been in touch to tell us that, despite what its press release suggested about its role in SBMC being limited to helping deliver the headsets, it will also be involved in the design phase, while confirming it's not working with Anduril for its part of the project.
"We are developing a comprehensive, modular architecture that includes glasses-form-factor displays, compute modules, and body-borne sensors, all connected through an extensible software layer," a Rivet spokesperson told us in an email. "We do not have a collaboration agreement with Anduril on SBMC; our role as prime contractor is to deliver a solution that meets the Army’s requirements for modularity, extensibility, and integration."
In other words, it looks like the Army learned its lesson with the ill-fated IVAS program and isn't putting all its eggs in one Microsoft-shaped basket this time around.
"Our clean-sheet solution has been shaped directly by Soldier input and carries no legacy of Big Tech compromises or failed consumer devices," Rivet added. Ouch. ®
Updated at 1749 to add new comments from Rivet.
Get our [19]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.anduril.com/article/anduril-awarded-contract-to-redefine-the-future-of-mixed-reality/
[2] https://www.rivet.us/sbmc
[3] https://sam.gov/opp/bbb0747e80dd4e47a218cb1f75e247a4/view
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/03/31/microsoft_us_army_hololens_contract/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/10/15/us_army_delays_microsoft_ivas_vr_project/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/26/army_microsoft_headset/
[11] https://www.theregister.com/2023/01/12/congress_hololens_microsoft/
[12] https://www.theregister.com/2025/01/16/anduril_auto_weapon_factory/
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2023/10/12/darpa_worried_battlefield_mixed_reality/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2025/06/18/anduril_rheinmetall_drones/
[15] https://www.theregister.com/2025/05/30/meta_is_now_a_defense/
[16] https://taskandpurpose.com/news/soldiers-testing-tech-at-border/
[17] https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/02/microsoft_hololens_2_dead/
[18] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/publicsector&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33aMCjesq_b6rd0JH_fXrl3QAAAMU&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[19] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/