The UK will become the first international partner to access Ukraine’s Avengers AI Labs, giving UK researchers and technology companies access to operational battlefield data to develop new Artificial Intelligence- (AI) enabled capabilities.
The agreement, signed in Kyiv by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, establishes government, industry, and academic cooperation on defence AI, autonomous systems, cyber security and secure data.
UKAI has welcomed the deal as an opportunity to connect Britain’s AI ecosystem with real-world applications and deepen long-term collaboration between UK and Ukrainian innovators.
The agreement, signed by Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv on Monday, will make the UK the first international partner to gain access to Ukraine’s Avengers AI Labs.
The platform collects real-world information from thousands of daylight cameras and infrared sensors operating across the battlefield in Ukraine, capturing millions of objects including tanks, artillery, air-defence systems, infantry positions, Shahed drones, and reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles.
That information is then used to train AI models.
For UK researchers, engineers and technology companies, access to the platform could provide an unusually large source of real-world operational data through which new AI systems can be developed and tested.
In return, Ukraine will gain greater access to Britain’s universities, researchers and technology companies as the two countries seek to turn battlefield experience into technologies that could have applications well beyond the war.
From battlefield innovation to a long-term technology partnership
The Government said the initial focus would be defence and national security, bringing together engineers, academics, businesses and military operational expertise from both countries through what it described as an AI cell.
However, ministers believe some of the resulting technologies could eventually have civilian applications in areas including critical infrastructure, transport, and energy.
The agreement forms part of the wider UK-Ukraine 100 Year Partnership and establishes a framework intended to extend beyond individual defence projects.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said:
“Ukraine has become one of the world’s leading innovators in defence technology, forged through courage, ingenuity, and the hard lessons of war.
“This groundbreaking partnership will bring together Ukraine’s unrivalled operational experience with Britain’s world-class AI ecosystem, giving us the opportunity to develop the technologies of the future, changing lives here in Britain and saving lives on the battlefield in Ukraine.
“By combining Ukrainian battlefield data with UK 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.”
The accompanying Joint Declaration of Intent provides greater detail about how that cooperation will operate.
It commits the two countries to developing next-generation AI-enabled armed forces and establishes three main pillars of cooperation.
Government-to-government collaboration will cover areas including jointly developed models, secure data and computing pathways and AI assurance.
Industry will work through those government arrangements to develop, test and deploy technology against agreed operational challenges.
Universities and research organisations will meanwhile collaborate in areas including autonomous systems, AI assurance, cyber security and synthetic data.
The declaration also commits both countries to protections around data sovereignty, intellectual property and export controls, while seeking interoperability with NATO systems.
Importantly, the partnership will initially follow a pilot-first approach rather than attempting to establish an entirely new institutional structure before practical projects have been tested.
UK start-ups already testing technology
That work has already begun.
Three UK start-ups – Bristol-based Sintela, Oxford-based Mind Foundry, and London-based Skyral – are involved in pilot projects combining Ukrainian operational data with UK-developed technology.
One of the first systems is preparing to be deployed at a UK defence site.
The technology uses buried fibre-optic cables as enormous AI-enabled sensors capable of detecting activity around protected sites.
Although initially designed to help protect military facilities from protesters and hostile actors attempting to gather intelligence, ministers believe similar systems could eventually be used around airports, prisons, railway infrastructure, and energy facilities.
A second project will examine next-generation low-power AI chips for drones, robotics, and autonomous systems.
Reducing the amount of energy required for onboard AI could allow autonomous systems to operate for longer periods and respond more quickly in environments where conventional communications or computing infrastructure is unavailable.
Defence Secretary Wes Streeting said:
“Ukraine is pushing the frontier of defence innovation as they bravely resist Putin’s illegal invasion. From supporting with military equipment and training to co-developing cutting-edge technology, the UK will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
“By combining the UK’s world-leading scientists, engineers and tech companies with Ukraine’s unique battlefield experience and data, we will strengthen both of our nations’ defence and security.”
‘AI sovereignty in practice’
The Government is also presenting the agreement as part of its wider ambition to strengthen sovereign UK technological capability.
Rather than sovereignty meaning that every component of an AI system must be designed or manufactured domestically, the partnership demonstrates an approach in which Britain seeks control over strategically important capabilities while collaborating with trusted international partners.
Minister for AI Kanishka Narayan said:
“Britain and Ukraine are the closest of partners. Ukraine’s extraordinary courage on the battlefield has been matched by remarkable technological ingenuity.
“By giving UK start-ups, researchers and engineers access to insights from its Avengers AI platform, we are taking that partnership further and helping Britain develop the next generation of defence technology.
“This is AI sovereignty in practice: building our own capabilities and turning frontline experience into systems that protect our armed forces overseas and our critical infrastructure at home.”
The partnership comes as the Government increasingly considers AI not simply as an economic or public-service technology, but as part of the UK’s national security and strategic infrastructure.
The Joint Declaration explicitly recognises AI, autonomous systems and network-enabled capabilities as increasingly important to modern warfare and argues that maintaining a technological advantage will form part of future deterrence.
It also creates scope for technologies developed jointly by Britain and Ukraine eventually to be shared with trusted allies and partners where both governments agree.
UKAI welcomes opportunity for collaboration
The trade association for the AI economy in the UK, UKAI, welcomed the agreement and the opportunities it could create for UK technology companies, researchers and universities.
A UKAI spokesperson said:
“This is a significant development for the UK AI ecosystem and demonstrates what can be achieved when government, industry, academia, and end users collaborate around clearly defined real-world challenges.
“Ukraine has developed extraordinary technological and operational expertise under the most difficult circumstances, while the UK has world-leading AI companies, researchers, and universities. Bringing those capabilities together can support both countries while creating lessons and technologies with applications across defence, resilience, and the protection of critical national infrastructure.
“UKAI welcomes the Government’s commitment to involving UK start-ups and technology companies from the outset. We look forward to working with government, our members, and partners across the Ukrainian technology community to explore how that collaboration can be expanded, while ensuring that responsible development, security and effective AI assurance remain at the heart of deployment.”
For the UK AI industry, the significance of Avengers AI Labs may extend beyond access to another dataset.
One persistent challenge when developing sophisticated AI systems is securing high-quality information from real operating environments against which technology can be trained and evaluated.
Ukraine has accumulated exactly that kind of information through more than four years of intensive warfare.
The challenge for both governments will now be turning access to that experience into deployable capabilities while maintaining the safeguards around sensitive military data, intellectual property, and national security set out in the agreement.
A wider defence relationship
The AI agreement was one of several announcements made during Burnham’s visit to Ukraine.
The Prime Minister also announced that the Government had agreed that defence company MBDA could release classified information relating to UK components within the long-range SCALP missile.
The move is intended to support the establishment of local assembly lines in Ukraine.
Together, the announcements point towards an evolution in the UK-Ukraine defence relationship: away from a model centred predominantly on Britain supplying weapons and equipment towards one involving increasing amounts of joint development, industrial cooperation, and technology sharing.
The Artificial Intelligence Partnership makes that shift explicit.
Rather than treating Ukraine simply as the recipient of Western technology, the agreement recognises the country as an increasingly important source of defence innovation in its own right – and seeks to combine that experience with Britain’s research base, technology industry and AI ecosystem.
The next test will be whether the pilot projects can be converted into operational technologies at sufficient speed and scale.
Under the declaration signed in Kyiv, further implementation arrangements are expected to be developed over the coming months.
Photo: Lauren Hurley/No 10 Downing Street