Ukraine will give Britain access to a vast trove of battlefield data collected during the war with Russia, allowing U.K. companies and researchers to use it to train and test artificial intelligence systems.
The agreement, signed Monday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, will make the U.K. the first foreign partner to gain access to Ukraine’s Avengers AI Labs, a defense platform built around millions of images and other data gathered from the battlefield.
The data is collected by thousands of cameras and infrared sensors deployed across the battlefield and includes images of tanks, artillery and air defense systems, and infantry and aerial targets such as attack and reconnaissance drones.
It is used to train AI models to recognize and classify battlefield objects. Ukraine’s Defense Ministry has previously said systems trained on the data analyze more than 100,000 drone video feeds each month and help identify about 70% of enemy targets in real time.
The British government described Avengers Labs as a “goldmine of battlefield data” that would give researchers access to operational information collected during Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“By combining Ukrainian battlefield data with British expertise, we will accelerate the development of capabilities that not only strengthen our national security but better protect our critical infrastructure,” Burnham said.
Several pilot projects are already underway with British companies, including Bristol-based fiber-optic sensing company Sintela, Oxford-based artificial intelligence firm Mind Foundry and London-based modeling and simulation software company Skyral.
The first technology developed under the initiative is expected to be deployed at a British defense facility “to protect bases from protestors and hostile actors trying to gain intelligence.”
British authorities said the technology could eventually be used to protect airports, prisons, railways and energy infrastructure, as well as military facilities.
Avengers AI Labs is run by Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense and allows approved defense companies to use battlefield data to develop and test AI models, particularly those designed for drones and other autonomous systems.
The platform contains about 5 million battlefield images and video frames and is closely linked to DELTA, Ukraine’s military battlefield management and situational awareness system. Much of the Avengers dataset comes from DELTA and is continually supplemented with new combat data.
The agreement is part of a broader effort by Ukraine to use the large volumes of combat data generated during more than four years of war to develop military AI and deepen technology cooperation with its allies.
Ukraine announced a similar partnership with Germany in April, saying it would give German partners access to battlefield information from DELTA and other military systems to train and improve AI models.
“Partners will gain access to unique battlefield data from DELTA and other digital systems, helping them develop technologies and strengthen their own capabilities,” Ukraine’s then-defense minister Mykhailo Fedorov said at the time.
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