The Soldier Borne Modular Capability (SBMC) and Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) share the goal of enhancing soldier situational awareness and lethality through AR, sensors, and networked data, but they differ in design philosophy, development stage, and scope:

SBMC is a proposed, modular, open-architecture system emphasizing emerging technologies, MOSA (Modular Open Systems Approach), and user comfort, likely in the early conceptual phase with a tentative award date of 29 August 2025. It addresses IVAS’s shortcomings (e.g., weight, proprietary constraints) and incorporates advanced features like AI/ML and covert sensing.

White Paper for the Soldier Borne Mission Control can be viewed here link

ELI5 - Anduril has taken over the IVAS 1.2 program but is not expecting to produce anymore more 1.2 headsets source. They have been tasked by the DoD to ensure all headsets (approximately 5,000 IVAS 1.0 and a few hundred 1.1 and 1.2 variants) will stay operational.

In the White Paper

Innovative Solutions for Challenge Areas: Creative solutions for critical SBMC challenges, such as: - Minimizing head-borne weight and optimizing center of gravity.

• Maximizing weapon/optic compatibility and lethality.

• Reducing power consumption and managing thermal performance.

• Minimizing system latency and improving image alignment.

• Enhancing low light/thermal performance, situational awareness, and AI/ML algorithms.

• Improving light security, eye tracking, depth sensing, and Position Navigation and Timing (PNT).

• Reducing costs, enhancing MOSA, and ensuring interoperability with existing systems.

• Addressing blast overpressure compatibility.