Company will use its HoloLens model as a base. The agreement could reach almost US $ 22 billion (R $ 123 billion) in 10 years.

Microsoft won a bid worth nearly $ 22 billion ($ 123 billion at current price) to provide the Pentagon with augmented reality goggles for soldiers, the company and the United States military announced last Wednesday (31). ).

The technology, based on the HoloLens model, will make soldiers “more effective and better protected,” according to Microsoft.

The Defense Department said the production agreement is a five-year option with a renewal option, which could make the contract worth more than $ 21.88 billion in 10 years, a Pentagon official said in an announcement.

For the past two years, Microsoft has been working with the US Army on a prototype of the so-called Integrated Visual Enhancement System, or IVAS.

The company said on Wednesday that the Army decided to move the project forward to the production phase.

The contract provides for the provision of “next-generation night vision and context perception capabilities,” the Pentagon said.

Microsoft said the contract glasses are designed to deliver “enhanced situational awareness, allowing information sharing and decision making in a variety of settings”.

Relations with the armed forces
Late last year, the Pentagon said it maintained its decision to award a $ 10 billion cloud computing services contract to Microsoft, despite Amazon’s claims that the decision was made under the improper influence of the then president. Donald Trump.

LEARN MORE: Amazon again asks for suspension of Microsoft contract with the Pentagon
After Microsoft announced a $ 480 million contract in 2018 to provide prototypes to the U.S. Army, at least 94 company employees asked it to cancel the deal and stop developing “any and all weapon technology,” it published. Reuters at the time.