The Army’s acquisition chief on Tuesday said initial feedback on the new “1.2” upgraded version of Microsoft’s [MSFT] Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) has been positive, with the service working toward the next step in the rapid prototyping effort.
Doug Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, cited IVAS 1.2’s new night vision camera component as an improvement that has “performed very well” during early testing.
“But, we have to see. A camera can work really well when there’s a lot of moonlight, but then you go under a dense canopy of trees and it’s pitch dark, how well does it work? This is the level of testing that we’re going to get to,” Bush told reporters during a media briefing.
The Army received the first 20 IVAS 1.2 prototypes from Microsoft in July, with Bush noting at the time that the redesigned system will go through operational testing this fall to gather critical feedback from soldiers on the adjustments to help inform the direction of the program (Defense Daily, July 27).
“Hopefully, with this [new] arrangement of the technology plus better software, the infantry soldiers will find that it’s closer to what they want. These are still prototypes, but that’s the big data point that we need back,” Bush told Defense Daily in July.
Following an operational test with the initial 1.0 version of IVAS last June, Army officials detailed a plan to adjust the program’s timeline to address reliability, low-light sensor performance and form factor issues identified during the evaluation and in early January awarded Microsoft a $125 million deal to work on developing IVAS 1.2.
In April, Bush said the Army would be prepared to hold a new competition if the upgrades with IVAS 1.2 did not meet requirements (Defense Daily, April 18).
Bush said on Tuesday the next step for rapid prototyping with IVAS 1.2 is building more systems and doing additional testing with soldiers, with final spending legislation to determine how many headsets the Army buys next fiscal year.
Building on the form factor changes with IVAS 1.2, Bush noted the Army’s aim is to work toward a wireless control system to further refine the headset.
“So, it’s not perfect. But we think this form factor, to use that term, is just way closer to what is something that is really usable for an infantry soldier,” Bush told reporters.
Brig. Gen. Larry Burris, director of the Army’s Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team, told Defense Daily in July a form factor change from the initial version of IVAS includes a new display screen that can be adjusted similar to a traditional night vision device.
IVAS 1.2 also includes removing the headset’s large cable by placing the battery system at the back of the headset.