12 British defence companies to gain access to Ukrainian AI platform Avengers Labs

The United Kingdom has become Ukraine’s first international partner whose defence companies will be able to join the Avengers Labs platform. Developers use the platform to train and test artificial intelligence models for unmanned systems using real battlefield data, according to a Ministry of Defence press release.

Under the first competition, up to 12 British defence companies are expected to gain access to the platform. They will be selected by the UK Ministry of Defence in accordance with requirements set by both the Ukrainian and British sides.

The companies will not receive direct access to the dataset materials and will not be able to download them. The AI models will be trained and tested within the secure Avengers Labs environment. Selected participants will receive access to the platform once the Ukrainian side has completed its export-control procedures.

The first competition is being conducted by the UK Ministry of Defence’s Rapid AI Delivery Task Force (RAID). The solutions submitted by companies must meet the requirements of both countries’ defence ministries. The selection process is expected to be completed within several weeks.

AI models for unmanned system swarms

The partnership will prioritise the development of artificial intelligence models for swarms of unmanned systems. These models are intended to enable coordination between drones, threat and target detection, and mission execution with limited communications links to operators or without access to global navigation satellite systems.

This includes the ability to control large numbers of autonomous platforms during logistics operations or precision target engagement.

How Avengers Labs works

Avengers Labs is built around an annotated dataset containing more than five million frames collected directly from the battlefield. Most of the data are received from unmanned systems through the DELTA combat system. The materials are anonymised and transferred with a delay to avoid creating risks for military personnel during combat operations.

The dataset contains images of various ground and aerial targets, including:

• tanks;
• artillery systems;
• air defence systems;
• infantry;
• Shahed-type strike UAVs;
• reconnaissance drones.

According to the Ministry of Defence, more than 30 Ukrainian defence companies are already using Avengers Labs to train their AI models. Three solutions developed through this training are already being deployed on the battlefield.

Ukrainian-British partnership on AI

As Defender Media previously reported, Ukraine and the United Kingdom signed an agreement on cooperation in the military application of artificial intelligence. The document was signed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham in Kyiv on 24 August.

Cooperation on artificial intelligence forms part of the 100-year partnership between Ukraine and the United Kingdom.