Anduril’s new EagleEye MR helmet sees Palmer Luckey return to his VR roots

In the latest bid by a Silicon Valley defense firm to assert its own solution for the Army’s mixed-reality ambitions, Anduril Industries on Monday unveiled “EagleEye,” a helmeted computing system that seeks to turn soldiers into AI-augmented warfighters.

The launch is notable given that the initiative is led by Anduril’s co-founder Palmer Luckey, who previously started the pioneering VR company, Oculus, which was acquired by Meta.

Anduril describes EagleEye as a modular “family of systems” built atop its Lattice software that puts command-and-control tools, sensor feeds, and AI directly into a soldier’s field of vision.

The company claims the system can integrate live video feeds; features rear- and side-sensors to alert operators to threats; and can track teammates in real time. EagleEye variations include a helmet, visor, and glasses.

The launch comes as the U.S. Army looks to expand its pool of mixed-reality gear suppliers. It had been using Microsoft’s Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), a $22 billion program awarded in 2018, but after years of issues, the Army handed control of the contract to Anduril this February.

Then in September, Anduril won a $159 million award to prototype a new mixed-reality system for soldiers, part of a broader Soldier Borne Mission Command effort. Anduril said the award was “the largest effort of its kind” to outfit “every soldier with superhuman perception and decision-making capabilities.”

Earlier this year, Anduril also announced a partnership with Meta to develop extended reality (XR) devices for the military, marking an unexpected reunion between Luckey and his former employer.

“I am glad to be working with Meta once again,” Luckey said in a blog post. “My mission has long been to turn warfighters into technomancers, and the products we are building with Meta do just that.”

EagleEye has a long history: The concept first appeared in Anduril’s first pitch deck draft, before investors convinced the startup’s team to focus on software like Lattice.

“Going toe-to-toe with Microsoft and Magic Leap would have been demoralizing windmill-tilting driven by magical thinking,” Luckey said in a post on X in February. “Everything is different now. The world is ready, and so is Anduril.”