Meta and Anduril, the defense technology company started by Palmer Luckey, announced a new partnership to develop virtual and augmented reality devices designed for the U.S. Army. This collaboration marks a significant move by Meta to supply advanced technology to the government and reunites the company with Luckey, who originally sold his Oculus VR startup to Facebook (now Meta) in 2014.

Luckey’s relationship with Meta was once rocky—he was fired from the company in 2017 under unclear circumstances that he linked partly to political donations. Despite that, the new partnership highlights how Meta has shifted toward working closely with government agencies, offering AI tools and AR technology to support defense and national security.

The companies have jointly bid on a U.S. Army contract worth up to $100 million for VR devices, including a system called EagleEye that enhances soldiers’ vision and hearing through advanced sensors. Regardless of winning the contract, Meta and Anduril will continue their collaboration.

This effort aims to help the U.S. maintain a technological advantage while reducing military costs by adapting high-performance commercial technologies. Luckey expressed enthusiasm about working with Meta again, emphasizing the impact of dual-use tech for national defense.

Earlier, Anduril also partnered with OpenAI on AI projects related to national security.