--- title: "U.S. Soldiers to Wear Microsoft AR Goggles During Combat Missions" description: "## AR Combat" date: "2018-11-29" modified: "2018-11-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/soldiers-microsoft-ar-goggles-combat" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Prosthetics and Devices" tags: - "hololens" - "magic leap" - "microsoft" - "US military" --- # U.S. Soldiers to Wear Microsoft AR Goggles During Combat Missions ![Microsoft just won a $480 million contract with the U.S. government. It's planning on providing the Army with 100,000 HoloLens AR goggles.]() *\Image: U.S. Marines\* ## AR Combat Augmented reality in live combat is no longer science fiction. The U.S. Army has been using Microsoft's HoloLens during [training missions]() since at least 2016, providing soldiers with live information and locking onto targets. But now the headsets are headed into combat. Microsoft just won a sizable $480 million contract with the U.S. government, [according to *Bloomberg*](). The two year contract includes an order of more than 100,000 units. ## Enhance The military is planning to use Microsoft's augmented reality goggles to "increase lethality by enhancing the ability to detect, decide and engage before the enemy," according to a government description of the program quoted by *Bloomberg*. The Army is also planning to enhance the capabilities of the HoloLens by adding night vision, thermal sensing, live vital signs monitoring, and hearing protection. ## Military AR-dustrial Microsoft wasn't the only tech company pursuing this lucrative contract. AR goggles startup [Magic Leap]() [put in a bid]() as well. Big government contracts are as old as Silicon Valley itself. Arguably, GPS [never would've been invented]() without the U.S. military. But big tech is grappling with its relationship with the military right now, especially with Google's Project Maven AI drone contract with the Pentagon [proving highly unpopular]() among employees. But it's tough to predict whether tech workers will ever have enough sway over their employers to prevent future military contracts. **READ MORE:** [US Army soldiers will soon wear Microsoft’s HoloLens AR goggles in combat]() \[MIT Technology Review\] **More on Microsoft's HoloLens:** [Lockheed Engineers Are Using HoloLens to Build NASA's New Space Capsule]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()