Britain has signed a partnership with Ukraine to jointly develop artificial intelligence tools for defence and security. The agreement, signed in Kyiv by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, provides British researchers with access to Ukraine's Avengers AI Labs.

Avengers AI Labs is built around an annotated dataset of 5 million battlefield images, largely drawn from Ukraine's DELTA combat system. The platform utilises data from cameras and sensors across the battlefield, including information on drones, artillery systems, tanks, and other military targets.

The Ukrainian ministry stated that AI models trained on this data are currently used in an automated target-detection system. This system analyses more than 100,000 drone video feeds every month and can identify approximately 70% of enemy targets in real time.

The partnership will initially focus on defence and national security projects involving researchers, engineers, technology companies, and military experts from both nations. Planned pilot projects include:

• Technology using fibre-optic cables as AI-enabled sensors to protect military facilities.
• Research into low-power AI chips for autonomous systems and drones.

During his visit to Ukraine, which was his first trip abroad since becoming prime minister, Burnham also co-chaired a meeting of the "Coalition of the Willing." Additionally, the British government announced it would allow missile maker MBDA to release classified information regarding British-made components in the SCALP long-range cruise missile to assist in establishing assembly lines in Ukraine.