The US army plans to introduce headsets linked to a battlefield drone system to allow real‑time identification of targets

American special forces are to be equipped with headsets fitted with facial recognition technology to better identify terrorists and other known hostile combatants.

The United States used satellites with facial-recognition surveillance systems to help hunt down Osama bin Laden in 2011 but the new goggles, which could be in service as early as next year, are designed to be compatible with a battlefield drone system that should allow real-time identification of targets.

The new headset is part of the US army’s “integrated visual augmentation system”, a new generation of battlefield devices designed to exploit advances in technologies.

“If there are persons of interest that you want to look for and you’re walking around, [the new headset] will identify those very quickly,” Colonel Chris Schneider, project