UK and Ukraine forge AI defence pact granting access to battlefield data platform

In Kyiv, Prime Minister Andy Burnham and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy signed a defence-technology agreement that opens Britain’s research community to Ukraine’s Avengers AI Labs, a repository built around five million battlefield images sourced from the home-grown DELTA combat system. The platform aggregates sensor data on tanks, artillery, drones and other targets, and its AI models already support an automated system that scans more than 100,000 drone video feeds monthly, identifying roughly 70% of enemy objects in real time.

The bilateral pact will launch pilot initiatives, including the use of fibre-optic cables as AI-enabled sensors to safeguard military installations and the development of low-power AI chips for autonomous drones. The collaboration is framed as a defence and national-security effort involving researchers, engineers, tech firms and military experts from both nations. Burnham’s visit, his first abroad since taking office, also included co-chairing a “Coalition of the Willing” meeting and a prior announcement that missile maker MBDA would share classified details on British components used in the SCALP cruise missile to aid Ukrainian production lines.