IVAS to change how soldiers prepare for conflicts

The U.S. Army's new battlefield heads-up display, theIntegrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), will revolutionize the way soldiersprepare for future conflicts, the Army's vice chief of staff told lawmakers on May9.

"This is cutting-edge technology," Gen. James C. McConville said before the House Armed Services Committee's subcommittee on readiness. "It is going to transform the way we train soldiers and the way soldiers operate in combat. We're excited about it."

As the Army looks to further modernize its force, it hasfocused on synthetic training environments to boost soldier readiness andlethality. IVAS is a single platform that soldiers and marines use to fight,rehearse and train. The Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team identified technologythat makes it possible to deliver a single system across the force. Similartechnology has been used by the Navy and Air Force, which have used it to trainfighter pilots.

The IVAS system features advanced eyewear that placessimulated images in a Soldier's view of real-world environments. The eyewear isconnected to a small computer on the soldier's body. The IVAS system is firstand foremost a combat system that will increase soldier situational awarenessduring missions, officials say.

Using 3-D mapping data and training management tools, userscan build a virtual combat environment, allowing soldiers to train in realisticcombat scenarios. Soldiers can use their IVAS and other combat equipment totake part in many repetitions of simulated missions, McConville said, providinga greater range of training options than current testing and training ranges.

The Army plans to field the system by the end of fiscal year2021.

"What it's going to allow our soldiers to do is to gointo (augmented) reality and train on a mission they're about ready toaccomplish," McConville said. "It's real. They can practice. They canrehearse, they can hit the sled a whole bunch of times and they can actuallytake the equipment that we're developing and go and execute the mission."

Similar to the Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular, orENVG-B, the IVAS system will use thermal imaging without the green tint seen inthe Army's current night vision goggles.

The IVAS system is just one of several measures the Army hastaken to increase readiness in its formations. The service plans to raise itsfitness standards by making the new Army Combat Fitness Test its physical testof record by October 2020.

The number of brigade combat teams has also increased andthe number of non-deployable soldiers has fallen from 15 percent in 2015 to 6percent today.

Readiness remains a top priority in the Army's fiscal 2020budget, McConville said, which fully funds home-station training and combattraining center rotations.

"Our No. 1 priority is readiness," he said."We have a good historical example of last year, where we had timely,adequate, predictable and sustainable funding. We saw a great improvement inour overall readiness. This year, the budget that we asked for is the budget weneed."

Source: US Army