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UK becomes the first international partner to join Avengers Labs

An illustration of the Avengers Labs platform in operation, shown collecting data on the use of a Russian Shahed drone
Partners will train their AI models in a secure environment

The United Kingdom has become the first international partner of Ukraine whose defence companies will gain access to Avengers Labs, a Ukrainian platform for training AI models for unmanned systems on real battlefield data.

Up to 12 British defence companies will join the platform.

Programme participants will not get direct access to the dataset and cannot download it. Instead, they test and train their AI models within the secure perimeter of Avengers Labs.

The initiative was made possible by a joint declaration of intent. To implement it, Ukraine and the United Kingdom concluded an artificial intelligence partnership agreement, signed by President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Technologies the partnership will develop

The priority is developing new AI models for swarms of unmanned systems. AI will enable these systems to work with one another and to detect threats and enemy targets.

Remote control of large numbers of autonomous drones will make a wide range of tasks easier to carry out, including logistics support and high-precision targeting of enemy assets.

How companies will be selected for Avengers Labs

The UK Ministry of Defence will select companies through a competition. The first competition under the UK–Ukraine partnership calls for AI models that enable unmanned systems to operate more effectively in difficult battlefield conditions, where communication with human operators or access to global navigation satellite systems is limited.

Up to 12 companies whose proposals meet the requirements of the Ukrainian and British defence ministries will be selected.

The selection process will be completed within a few weeks. Companies will be able to access the platform once the Ukrainian side has completed export control procedures.

The selection is led by the Rapid AI Delivery (RAID) Task Force of the UK Ministry of Defence, a team set up to give the military access to technologies that help them make better decisions, carry out dangerous tasks at lower risk and stay ahead of adversaries who are rapidly developing their own AI capabilities.

How the Avengers Labs AI platform works

At the core of Avengers Labs is an annotated dataset of more than 5 million frames collected directly on the battlefield. Most of this data comes from unmanned systems via the DELTA combat system. It is anonymised and delayed so that it poses no risk to troops during combat operations.

The dataset covers a wide range of targets:

  • enemy tanks
  • artillery
  • air defence systems
  • infantry
  • aerial targets, including Shahed-type drones and reconnaissance UAVs

The data is constantly updated and expanded, which keeps it of practical value in combat.

Avengers Labs is unique in its content. Data of comparable volume and quality is virtually impossible to collect for a private company or for a country without experience of modern full-scale war.

More than 30 Ukrainian defence companies are already training their own AI models on Avengers Labs, and three of the resulting products are being used successfully on the battlefield.

Cooperation on artificial intelligence is an important part of the 100-year partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom. It deepens ties between the two countries to strengthen global security and stability and to boost Ukraine’s ability to defend itself against Russian aggression.

Thanks to its systematic adoption, AI already saves analysts in the Defence Forces of Ukraine up to 90% of the time spent searching for enemy targets in photos and videos.

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