UK, Ukraine launch new defence AI partnership

The UK will be the first international country to gain access to Ukraine’s battlefield database ‘Avengers AI Labs’, as part of a new joint partnership between the two countries.  

Developed by Ukraine’s Centre for Innovation and Development of Defence Technologies, Avengers AI Labs collates and labels battlefield data from platforms and sensors, including from drones, to help train AI machine-learning algorithms.  

According an announcement from the UK Ministry of Defence on 24 August, access to the platform will provide the UK with “a goldmine of battlefield data”.  

The platform has already been used to train an automated detection system, with 70% of all adversary targets detected within video inputs, the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine says.  

In return for providing access to the platform, Ukraine will be able to draw on UK expertise in AI, for example from universities and technology companies.  

UK Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said that by “combining the UK’s world-leading scientists, engineers and tech companies with Ukraine’s unique battlefield experience and data, we will strengthen both of our nations’ defence and security.” 

What else does the partnership entail? 

Alongside access to the platform, the new partnership encompasses other projects. In one pilot project, three UK tech startups will undertake a programme designed to “protect bases from protestors and hostile actors”, the UK defence ministry says. 

The programme will see London-based Skyral, Bristol-based Sintela, and Oxford-based Mind Foundry trial “buried fibre-optic cables [that have been turned] into a giant AI-enabled sensor” at a UK defence site. The sensor has been developed using a combination of Ukrainian data and UK tech.  

Separately, another project under the partnership – to which no industry partners have currently been attributed – will see the two countries develop new low-power AI chips for use in future uncrewed systems.