'Military Hololens' contracted by Microsoft for up to 2.5 trillion yen will not reach the practical level in the development period of 3 years

It was reported that the 'military Hololens' contract signed between Microsoft and the US Army in 2018 is not expected to meet the postponed delivery date. This case was a large contract with a maximum of 21.9 billion dollars (about 2.5 trillion yen), but the progress three years after the development is said to be 'not demonstrating the performance as combat goggles'.

Microsoft's (MSFT) $ 22 Billion Army Goggles Still Aren't Combat-Ready --Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-01-25/microsoft-s-22-billion-army-goggles-still-aren-t-combat-ready

Microsoft's HoloLens still isn't good enough yet for US military testing --OnMSFT.com
https://www.onmsft.com/news/microsofts-hololens-still-isnt-good-enough-yet-for-the-us-military-testing-it

In November 2018, Microsoft signed an agreement with the United States Army to deliver over 100,000 customized versions of mixed reality (MR) goggles, Hololens. According to media reports at the time, the U.S. Army wanted a military device equipped with a night mode that could see the surroundings even at night, a thermography that senses the temperature of the other party, and a function that detects the breathing of the other party, totaling 400 million. It was Microsoft that won the bid at a price of 80 million dollars (about 54 billion yen).

Microsoft signs a contract to manufacture more than 100,000 special HoloLens devices for the U.S. Army-GIGAZINE

by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra

And in April 2021, as an extension of the above contract, Microsoft and the U.S. Army delivered 120,000 military Hololens equipped with 'a function to display maps, compasses, and ally positions with holograms in addition to night mode and thermography'. We have signed a new contract to do so. In the announcement at that time, Microsoft said, 'This contract is valid for 5 years and there is an option to extend it for 5 years, and if it is a 10-year contract including the option, it will be up to $ 21.9 billion (about 2). It will be (1.5 trillion yen). '

Microsoft signs a contract to supply 120,000 'HoloLens' to the US Army for over 2 trillion yen-GIGAZINE

It was October 2021 that dark clouds began to hang down in a series of contracts. The above-mentioned contract to deliver 120,000 military Hololens was planned to be delivered sequentially from September 30, 2021, but the device will not be delivered even after the scheduled date, and the delivery start date is 1 It will be extended for the year.

Regarding the reason for the suspension of delivery, there was a problem that the initial prototype version was broken by rain, so it is speculated that 'there is still a problem with durability' and complaints from Microsoft employees about the provision of technology to the military. It was reported that the repulsion from the employees had an effect, but the details were unknown.

And on January 25, 2022, Bloomberg, a major American economic newspaper, reported that 'Microsoft's military Hololens has not yet reached a practical level.' According to Bloomberg, the improved version of the military Hololens 'demonstrated growth potential' and 'improved in comfort and breadth of vision,' but the U.S. Army responded to a test in May 2022. He said that he said, 'We should formulate a test and evaluation strategy to quantify the improvement of known defects in advance.'

Bloomberg also reports that the Pentagon's director of operational testing has unofficially said that it 'has not yet demonstrated its performance as combat goggles.' A spokeswoman for the Operations Testing Department said, 'In order to show that it is operational in the May 2022 test, a close combat unit equipped with military Hololens was based on the doctrine of combat in a realistic operational environment. Whether or not you can accomplish your mission. '