Todd South:Deadlier machine guns, rifles, pistols and more: How the Army is revolutionizing squad firepower

The ENVG-B is only a small step toward a more ambitious project — Integrated Visual Augmentation System, or IVAS.

As the small arms themselves improve, shooting itself has the capacity to change through a marriage of high-tech hardware and ever-evolving software.

Early IVAS prototypes shown to Army Times at Fort Pickett, Virginia, this year use the Microsoft HoloLens device, a virtual reality goggle. The device has navigation features for wayfinding, can display the location of enemy and friendly troops and give map overlays to track in a heads-up display.

The core of what’s happening with the device relies on augmented reality — essentially software providing visual symbols in the user’s field of view. The user still sees the real world but can add and enhance what they see in their view.

While that might mean cool graphics and 360-degree experiences for video gamers, educational programmers and researchers, it can mean life or death for soldiers or Marines.

“No other piece of equipment has had this kind of impact since the introduction of night vision,” said Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, a former Ranger, told Army Times. “This takes night vision to the PhD level.”

https://www.armytimes.com/news/your-army/2019/11/26/deadlier-machine-guns-rifles-pistols-and-more-how-the-army-is-revolutionizing-squad-firepower/