The Defense Health Agency (DHA) shocked both defense and technology sectors by canceling the Ouraring biometric ring solicitation. This unexpected move ended a major $96 million contract with Ouraring Inc., the U.S. branch of Finnish company Oura Health.
The original plan was to give military medical personnel Oura Rings across 130 facilities. These smart wearable devices cost between $299-$349 and track significant biometric indicators like heart rate variability, sleep quality, and overall resilience. But the cancelation fits into a bigger Pentagon plan to review its programs. The focus now is to move billions away from non-essential projects toward strategic priorities. The contract also faced pushback from competitors in the wearable technology market, especially WHOOP. Some Congress members raised questions about potential vendor favoritism.
The Pentagon’s new budget priorities match this decision. U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has ordered an eight percent budget cut. What started as a promising project to boost military personnel’s health monitoring has become another victim of defense spending changes.
What the Oura Ring Deal Was Supposed to Do
The Pentagon signed a $96.1 million contract with Ouraring to roll out innovative health monitoring technology throughout its military healthcare system. The Defense Health Agency’s Wellbeing Office will receive biometric sensor devices along with detailed data analytics tools. These tools will monitor physiological stress, recovery, and resilience among personnel.
Overview of the $96M contract
The contract specifies a fixed price and runs for 12 months starting September 30, 2024. Oura will deliver more than just devices – they’ll create a complete wellness system. This system will feature personalized biometric data displays, organization-wide health dashboards, and wellness content delivery. The plan will reach 130 military medical treatment facilities that serve DHA’s entire workforce.
Why DHA chose biometric rings
The Defense Department had several good reasons to pick ring-format wearables. Oura Rings are small and subtle compared to watches or wristbands, yet they still capture high-quality biometric data continuously. The military already saw success with this technology when the Navy gave about 300 rings to sailors and Marines on the amphibious assault ship Essex to research fatigue. DHA also recognized that Oura stood out as the only wearable ring company with DoD clearance to use in secure facilities.
Expected benefits for military medical staff
The program wants to tackle burnout and declining performance among military medical staff through:
- Regular tracking of stress, recovery, and resilience markers
- Informed proactive health interventions
- Detailed wellness services with high-performance medicine and mindfulness training
The technology’s early detection abilities could be its most valuable feature. The Defense Innovation Unit tested this during COVID-19 by combining Oura rings with AI algorithms in their Rapid Assessment of Threat Exposure project. This helped spot infectious diseases before symptoms showed up. Program manager Jeff Schneider explained, “With RATE, the DOD can use commercial wearables to noninvasively monitor a service member’s health and provide early alerts to potential infection before it spreads”.
How the Deal Fell Apart
The Oura Ring deal started facing problems in August 2024. The Defense Health Agency announced a $96 million contract to Ouraring Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Finnish firm Oura Health.
Sole-source procurement and lack of competition
The contract’s most controversial aspect was its “sole-source” classification – a method that lets agencies work with just one vendor. This approach blocked other wearable technology manufacturers from competing for the contract. Many people questioned if these restrictions made sense, given how many American companies make health monitoring wearables.
WHOOP’s original protest to GAO
WHOOP, a major U.S.-based health and fitness wearable company, stepped in with a formal protest to the Government Accountability Office. The company argued that there wasn’t enough reason to make this a sole-source contract. WHOOP claimed their wrist-worn devices worked just as well as Oura’s rings, if not better.
DHA’s attempt to reissue the contract
DHA pulled back the original sole-source contract and asked WHOOP to drop their protest. In spite of that, rather than opening up the competition, the agency put out new requests in November and December 2024. These requests still said the wearable had to be a ring. DHA managed to keep Oura at an advantage since they had told lawmakers that Oura was the only ring maker approved for Department of Defense secure facilities.
Second protest and final cancelation
WHOOP filed another protest in January 2025, frustrated by these moves. The company said the “ring-based form factor” requirement shut out more than 97% of companies in the current commercial market. The whole ordeal ended up on March 6, 2025, when DHA canceled the entire contract. DHA’s letter to the GAO simply stated that “this acquisition is no longer required” and was “no longer considered a priority”.
The Real Reasons Behind the Cancelation
The DHA’s sudden cancelation of its biometric ring program stems from multiple connected reasons that extend beyond simple procurement issues.
Shifting defense budget priorities
The Pentagon’s major financial restructuring led to this cancelation. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth leads an aggressive plan to slash $50 billion—about 8% of the proposed 2026 budget. His signed memo cuts $5.1 billion from what he calls “wasteful” Defense Department contracts. These cuts target consulting and non-critical services to redirect money toward core defense and border security needs.
Leadership changes and internal reviews
New Pentagon leaders started a complete review of all “non-essential acquisitions”. The biometric ring program came under the microscope after DHA’s former director, General Telita Crossland, retired under pressure. This leadership gap and the newly created Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) mission to cut waste created tough conditions for new, untested technologies.
Lack of clear ROI justification
Oura representatives argued that “even a 1% reduction in burnout and turnover” would make the $96 million investment worthwhile. Decision-makers didn’t buy it. This matches a larger trend—only 43% of defense leaders think about total ownership costs when they evaluate new ideas. The wearable program became an easy target during budget cuts because it couldn’t show clear benefits to military readiness.
Political pressure and optics
The contract ended during a time of intense political focus on defense spending. Hegseth’s public fight against “wasteful” spending put pressure on programs that might look unnecessary for military operations. Lawmakers also debate the balance between immediate defense needs and long-term investments. This environment made a controversial $96 million contract for wearable rings an obvious target for cuts.
What This Means for the Future of Military Wearables
The DHA’s biometric ring program cancelation has altered the map of military wearable technology way beyond a single procurement decision.
Impact on Oura and WHOOP
Oura faces a major setback with this cancelation. The $96 million contract would have been a soaring win compared to their $200 million fundraising round. The company must now pivot to civilian markets and rethink its military sector approach. WHOOP, on the other hand, scored a symbolic victory. They successfully challenged what they called “backroom deals that inexplicably exclude qualified American businesses”. Their bold stance paints them as champions of fair competition and deepens their commitment to securing future military contracts.
Lessons for future procurement strategies
The Oura deal’s failure reveals vital lessons for military technology acquisitions. Fair competition stands as the cornerstone—narrow form factors or vendor-specific language in solicitations will trigger protests. Sole-source contracts need rock-solid proof that no other vendor can meet the requirements. Clear communication about selection criteria could have reduced the backlash.
Potential for broader form-factor inclusion
Military wearable initiatives will likely welcome more flexible form-factor requirements. New solicitations might expand beyond rings to wristbands, patches, and other sensor technologies. This shift would welcome bids from defense contractors and innovative health tech startups alike. The Pentagon wants to be “device agnostic,” and their current deployment already uses both Garmin watches and Oura rings.
Continued need for health monitoring tech
The military’s need for health monitoring remains strong. The Department of Defense keeps investing in wearable technology through several programs. DHA alone plans to spend about $337 million on six wearable-related initiatives from 2021-2027. The 2022 National Defense Authorization Act pushes the Department to create a digital health strategy that uses wearable devices. The need to monitor military readiness stays constant, whatever technology ends up meeting this requirement.
Conclusion
The DHA’s $96 million Oura Ring contract fell apart due to several interconnected reasons rather than one major issue. Secretary Hegseth’s leadership brought new Pentagon priorities, which included an 8% budget cut targeting what officials called “non-essential” purchases. On top of that, the procurement process created weak points through its controversial single-source approach and specific design requirements that left out American companies like WHOOP.
All the same, this setback doesn’t mean the end of military wearable technology. Defense officials still see the value in biometric monitoring for military readiness. Their ongoing investments of $337 million in various wearable projects prove this point. The Pentagon will likely choose more open procurement strategies in the future and welcome different design types beyond rings to boost competition among qualified vendors.
Military health monitoring technology shows both uncertainty and promise ahead. This contract may have failed under budget pressures and procurement issues, but the basic need to monitor military personnel’s health stays strong. Future military wearable programs will learn from these mistakes. They will focus on fair competition, clear selection criteria, and solid proof of return on investment. The mission to boost military readiness through biometric monitoring moves forward, now with valuable insights from the Oura Ring project.