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Ukraine–UK AI Partnership Targets Drone Swarms That Could Independently Identify Enemy Targets
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The United Kingdom has become the first international partner whose defense companies will gain access to Avengers Labs, Ukraine's AI-training platform for unmanned systems.
This was reported by Ukraine's Ministry of Defense on its official website on September 25.
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The platform trains AI models for drones and other unmanned systems using an annotated dataset built from real combat footage, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense noted.
Up to 12 British defense companies will join the program, the ministry added.
They will work within a secure perimeter that prevents them from downloading the underlying dataset, the ministry explained. Companies will instead test and train their own AI models inside that perimeter, the ministry confirmed.
The partnership became possible under a joint declaration of intent between the two governments, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense stated. To implement it, Ukraine and the UK signed a separate agreement on cooperation in artificial intelligence, the ministry noted.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham signed that agreement, according to the ministry. Priority development under the partnership will focus on AI models for swarms of unmanned systems, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense indicated.
Such models would let drones cooperate with one another and independently identify enemy threats and targets, the ministry explained.
Remote control of large numbers of autonomous drones is also expected to simplify logistics support and enable high-precision targeting of enemy positions, the ministry added. Ukraine's Ministry of Defense reported that the UK Ministry of Defense will select participating companies on a competitive basis.
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The first competition under the partnership calls for AI models that let unmanned systems operate effectively with limited communication to human operators or satellite navigation, the ministry noted.
Those constraints reflect the difficult battlefield conditions in which the systems are meant to operate, according to the ministry. Up to 12 companies will ultimately be chosen, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense added, based on how well their proposals meet requirements set by both defense ministries.
Selection is expected to conclude within a few weeks, the ministry stated. Companies will gain access to the platform once Ukraine completes its export control procedures, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.
The UK Ministry of Defense's Rapid AI Delivery Task Force, known as RAID, is leading the selection process, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense noted. The unit was created to give British forces faster access to technologies that support decision-making and reduce risk in dangerous missions, the ministry explained.
It is also meant to help the military keep pace with adversaries as they develop their own AI capabilities, according to the ministry.
Avengers Labs is built around an annotated dataset of more than 5 million battlefield frames, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense reported. Most of the material comes from unmanned systems through Ukraine's DELTA combat management system, the ministry described.
The data arrives anonymized and delayed, a step meant to avoid creating risks for personnel still fighting, according to the ministry.
The dataset spans a range of targets, including enemy tanks, artillery, air defense systems and infantry, the ministry noted, as well as aerial threats such as Shahed-type drones and reconnaissance UAVs.
More than 30 Ukrainian defense companies are already training their own AI models on Avengers Labs, Ukraine's Ministry of Defense confirmed.
Three of those products are already used on the battlefield, the ministry added.
The ministry described the dataset's scale and quality as difficult for any private company to replicate, noting that only a country with experience of a modern full-scale war could gather comparable material.
Ukraine's Ministry of Defense emphasized that the AI cooperation is part of the broader 100-year partnership between Ukraine and the UK. It added that the initiative would deepen cooperation between the two countries and strengthen Ukraine's ability to defend against Russian aggression.
The push to embed artificial intelligence deeper into Ukraine's defenses has drawn in more partners in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, Ukraine gained access to OpenAI's Daybreak program, a cyber-defense tool aimed at protecting hospitals, power plants and other critical infrastructure from attack.
The same initiative extended access to GPT-5.6 Sol, an advanced OpenAI model, as Ukraine's CERT-UA team works through nearly 6,000 cyber incidents logged in 2025 alone.
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