Vuzix introduces Shrike: Configurable 3,000-nit defense waveguide display for drones

Vuzix Corporation has introduced its Shrike display platform and begun shipping initial evaluation units to defense and security customers, offering a configurable waveguide-based heads-up display that gives military program offices a working hardware baseline before committing to a purpose-built wearable design.

The Rochester, N.Y.-based company announced the Shrike platform Sept. 29. The system is built around a waveguide display combining full-color 1280 x 720 resolution with a 40-degree field of view, a rated brightness of 3,000 nits to the eye, a 25 mm eye relief, and a 14.3 x 14 mm eye box. The display can be configured as either a monocular or binocular system, giving customers direct hardware comparison of both form factors within a single evaluation program.

Built for the field

The platform integrates micro HDMI and mini USB connectivity for flexible data input, alongside Vuzix’s Incognito technology, which reduces outward-visible light from the display lens, a feature specifically relevant to dismounted soldiers who must avoid drawing attention through lens glow at night. An optional electrochromic tint module allows the viewing experience to be adjusted for varying lighting conditions without swapping out any hardware.

Vuzix describes the intended application space as situational awareness, drone and unmanned ground vehicle operations, and presentation of mission data in the wearer’s field of view. Those use cases are not theoretical.

Vuzix has been supplying waveguide display components to defense integrators for several years, including a 2025 collaboration with Collins Aerospace to develop a waveguide-based display engine initially aimed at dismounted soldier operations and drone control, reaching low-rate initial production status ahead of projected full-rate production.

The Shrike platform positions Vuzix to take earlier in that development cycle with its own customers, providing the display hardware before a bespoke system is even defined.

The evaluation-first model

“Shrike provides defense customers a platform they can work with now, while giving them room to tailor the display to their application,” said Paul Travers, president and chief executive officer of Vuzix. “Our goal is to help customers move from evaluating a wearable display to developing a system that meets their program requirements.”

That logic directly addresses a friction point in defense procurement. Program offices often spend extended periods in early development attempting to specify optical parameters for a wearable display without having physically worked with a representative system.

Shrike functions as a hardware stand-in that accelerates that specification process while simultaneously demonstrating Vuzix’s U.S.-based waveguide design and manufacturing capabilities to potential customers.

Vuzix manufactures diffractive waveguides at its Rochester, N.Y., facility using custom-assembled nanoimprint lithography lines and proprietary materials for volume replication of nanoscale optical structures. That domestic manufacturing footprint is increasingly relevant to defense programs requiring compliance with procurement rules around U.S.-sourced components.

Vuzix plans to demonstrate Shrike at the AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition, Oct. 12-14 in Washington, D.C., and at Modern Warfare Week, Nov. 16-19 at Fort Bragg, N.C.

Shrike arrives as the Pentagon accelerates adoption of AI-assisted wearable display systems for drone and situational awareness applications, and as waveguide technology moves steadily from commercial AR devices into fielded military hardware programs.

Source: https://interestingengineering.com/military/vuzix-shrike-defense-waveguide-display-3000-nit-40-degree-fov-evaluation-units