Kopin Awarded Phase I SBIR from US Government for New MicroLED Displays for a Range of Soldier-Borne Applications

Kopin Corporation (NASDAQ: KOPN), a leading provider of application-specific optical systems and high-performance microdisplays for defense, training, enterprise, industrial, consumer and medical products, today announced that it has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract from the U.S. Government to advance new full color, smaller format MicroLED display technology.

This award builds on the existing $15.4 million IBAS contract awarded to Kopin in September 2025, further accelerating the company's MicroLED design and manufacturing capabilities. The new SBIR supports the creation of a second full color MicroLED display purpose-designed for several soldier-borne applications, marking this the second MicroLED focused award in the past six months for Army programs. The effort advances early stage development of the critical MicroLED architecture engineered to deliver superior brightness and visual performance along with lower power-consumption for near eye defense applications. Work under this award is focused on delivering full color displays that provide soldiers with a clear information and situational awareness advantage.

In addition to this SBIR award, Kopin anticipates follow on development contracts from the U.S. Army to accelerate its MicroLED products and technology in alignment with the Army's needs. This additional effort is intended to accelerate domestic MicroLED design and production capability, strengthen the U.S. MicroLED supply chain, and support the Army's objective of producing MicroLED displays within the United States.

The MicroLED technology under development within this SBIR is expected to play a key role in enabling enhanced capability for future weapon sight programs, providing warfighters with brighter, more rugged, and more power efficient visual solutions. MicroLED technology is essential for waveguide based AR systems to provide the necessary brightness in all daylight conditions while remaining power efficient for dismounted operators, eliminating the heavy battery burden of other display and optics approaches. The need for these capabilities spans multiple near eye systems, including helmet-mounted visual information systems, advanced weapon sights, and other precision targeting devices. These systems scale across multiple Army programs.

"Kopin is proud to support the Army's drive to deliver the most advanced soldier systems," said Iwan Dodd, SVP Business Development. "This award underscores the critical importance of domestically developed and manufactured MicroLED technology and its potential to redefine the performance and capability of future defense systems. As the Army advances toward more sophisticated weapon sights and visual augmentation platforms, U.S. engineered MicroLED displays will play a central role in delivering the brightness, ruggedness, and power efficiency our warfighters need to be advantaged in the field. We are committed to accelerating this technology and strengthening the trusted, secure supply chain required for tomorrow's mission ready systems."