Britain is gaining access to a vast trove of Ukrainian battlefield data under a new defense partnership aimed at developing artificial intelligence systems capable of detecting threats and military targets more quickly.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed the agreement Monday in Kyiv, making Britain the first international partner to gain access to Ukraine's Avengers AI Labs, according to the British government and Reuters.
Avengers was built around an annotated database of about 5 million battlefield images, largely drawn from Ukraine's DELTA combat system, which combines information from cameras and sensors to provide battlefield awareness, Reuters reported.
The data includes imagery and information on Russian tanks, artillery, air-defense systems, troops, drones and other battlefield targets collected during the war.
Ukraine's Defense Ministry says AI models trained on the data are already being used in automated target-detection systems that analyze more than 100,000 drone video feeds each month and identify about 70% of enemy targets in real time, Reuters reported.
British researchers and technology companies will now be able to work with the Ukrainian data to develop new defense and security applications.
One of the first projects will combine Ukrainian battlefield data with British technology to turn buried fibre-optic cables into a giant AI-enabled sensor capable of detecting and classifying movement around sensitive sites, according to the British government.
The technology is being tested at a British defense site and is intended to help identify protesters or hostile actors attempting to approach military facilities or gather intelligence, according to British officials.
The government said the technology could eventually be used to protect airports, prisons, railways and energy infrastructure.
Britain is particularly interested in Ukraine's experience detecting drones and other threats after more than four years of combat with Russia.
The partnership also includes research into low-power AI chips that could be used in future drones, robotics and autonomous systems, the British government said.
Three British technology companies — Sintela, Mind Foundry and Skyral — are participating in the initial pilot projects, according to the government.
The agreement gives British researchers access to battlefield data generated under real combat conditions, potentially allowing them to train AI systems using examples of the drones, armored vehicles, artillery and other threats Ukraine has encountered in its war with Russia.
The British government said the partnership will initially focus on defense and national-security projects that bring together researchers, engineers, technology companies and military experts from both countries.
The deal represents a significant expansion of technology cooperation between Britain and Ukraine, combining Ukraine's battlefield experience and data with British expertise in artificial intelligence, sensors and autonomous systems.
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