Microsoft's combat goggles win 1st delivery approval from US Army
The US Army is taking delivery of a first batch of high tech combat goggles made by Microsoft Corp., citing encouraging results from testing in the field.
Assistant Secretary for Acquisition Douglas Bush has "cleared the Army to begin accepting" some of the 5,000 sets of goggles, spokesman Jamal Beck said in a statement. Their delivery had been placed on hold over concern about the device's performance until more rigorous testing took place.
The Army placed its initial order for the 5,000 goggles valued at $373 million in March 2021. The order was to be the first of a potential 121,000 over a decade but was placed on hold later last year when the service delayed deployment of the device "to continue to enhance the technology platform."
The test report will help Congress decide whether to approve the $424.2 million the Army proposed to spend on the program for the fiscal year starting October. The House and Senate appropriations panels proposed deep cuts to the Army's request pending the test results.