(Bloomberg) -- The UK became the first foreign nation to gain access to Ukraine's vast trove of battlefield data in a deal designed to train artificial intelligence models and develop fresh military capabilities.
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Under the "AI Partnership" agreement signed in Kyiv on Monday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, Britain will be able to use Ukraine's military Avengers AI Labs database, The British premier's office said on Monday in a statement. In exchange, Britain will provide technology and researchers able to exploit the data for the benefit of both nations.
The agreement comes as the UK shares classified information on British components of the SCALP cruise missile with Kyiv, allowing Ukraine and France to proceed with plans to assemble the long-range projectile in Ukraine, a potential defense boost for the country fending off Russia's full-scale invasion.
The platform provides data and insights to train artificial intelligence models, collected from thousands of cameras and infrared sensors across the battlefield in Ukraine, according to the statement. The system captures millions of objects, such as tanks, artillery, air defense systems, infantry, and aerial targets, including Shahed drones and reconnaissance UAVs, feeding back data to the Avengers Lab to train AI models, the UK government said.
The partnership "will bring together Ukraine's unrivaled operational experience with Britain's world-class AI ecosystem," Burnham said in the statement. "By combining Ukrainian battlefield data with British expertise, we will accelerate the development of capabilities that not only strengthen our national security but better protect our critical infrastructure and growth in every postcode here at home."
Ukraine opened access to Avengers Lab for the country's defense companies in August, subject to approval. The platform is built around an annotated dataset of 5 million frames collected on the battlefield, the country's Defense Ministry said, with most of the data coming directly from the DELTA combat system used by the country's troops to conduct intelligence and guide fire.
--With assistance from Ellen Milligan.