Covid-19: US Army delays upcoming IVAS soldier touchpoint

US Army soldiers were slated to begin a third soldier touchpoint with a militarised version of the new Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) in late July at Fort Pickett, Virginia, but the service is now delaying that event until the October-November timeframe due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

IVAS programme leaders briefed reporters on 17 April about schedule changes to their effort to modify Microsoft’s HoloLens 2 headset, in part, by linking the goggles to Nett Warrior and One World Terrain. The service has been billing the programme as an early win for its modernisation efforts, but the Covid-19 outbreak has left question marks about system development, testing and fielding.

“Covid-19 is having an impact, as it is across the nation… but [our team] is driving on [with] the objective and we absolutely have a plan to maintain our first unit equipped [FUE] for IVAS in [the] fourth quarter of fiscal year 2021,” Soldier Lethality Cross-Function Team (CFT) Director Brigadier General David Hodne said.

Brig Gen Hodne said the team has made traditional and “unique” adjustments to keep the programme on track including working with Microsoft to make supply chain changes and switching up the priority timeline.

US Army soldiers using their IVAS HUD, based on the Microsoft HoloLens, during a previous test event. The IVAS soldier touchpoint 3 has been delayed until the October-November timeframe. (US Army)

For example, the service is moving its soldier touchpoint 3 (STP3) out by three to four months due, in part, to social distancing guidelines and the supply chain.