Britain and Ukraine have signed a landmark AI defence partnership, making the UK the first international partner to access Ukraine's Avengers AI Labs — a battlefield data platform built around 5 million annotated images from Ukraine's military.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed the agreement in Kyiv on Monday, August 24, during Burnham's first foreign trip since taking office. The deal gives British researchers direct access to the Avengers platform, which was built around data from Ukraine's DELTA combat management system.
Avengers Labs uses data collected from cameras and sensors across Ukraine's battlefield, including information on tanks, artillery systems, drones, and other military targets. AI models trained on this data are already powering an automated target-detection system that analyses more than 100,000 drone video feeds per month and can identify approximately 70% of enemy targets in real time.
Under the deal, the two countries will collaborate on pilot projects including fibre-optic cables used as AI-enabled sensors to protect military facilities, and research into low-power AI chips for drones and autonomous systems. The partnership brings together researchers, engineers, technology companies, and military experts from both nations.
"The partnership will bring together Ukraine's unrivalled operational experience with Britain's world-class AI ecosystem," said UK Defence Secretary John Healey.
Burnham also announced that Britain would allow missile manufacturer MBDA to release classified information on British-made components used in the SCALP long-range cruise missile to help Ukraine establish assembly lines with European partners.
