Burnham to Use Ukrainian Military Tech to ‘Protect UK Bases From Protesters’

Andy Burnham has signed a landmark military AI deal with Ukraine, with the first trial technology to be rolled out to stop protesters and foreign states targeting defence sites. 

As well as military bases, the government said the tech could be used in airports, prisons, railways and energy plants. 

Signed on Monday, the deal makes Britain the first international partner to access Ukraine’s Avengers AI Labs database, described in a government press release as a “goldmine of battlefield data”. 

The vast AI database holds real world data collected by thousands of daylight cameras and infrared sensors across the battlefield in Ukraine. The cameras and sensors capture footage of millions of objects and the data is then fed back to the Avengers Lab to train new AI models. 

The scheme will be piloted using Ukrainian data and British tech to turn “buried fibre-optic cables into a giant AI-enabled sensor” for movement detection. 

The UK government said the pilot is to protect bases from “protesters and hostile actors trying to gain intelligence”.

Among the most high profile recent break-ins at a British military site was a raid last summer 

by direct action group Palestine Action at RAF Brize Norton, during which activists sprayed two planes with red paint to protest the UK’s participation in Israel’s genocide in Gaza. 

Palestine Action was banned as a terrorist organisation – making it the first protest group to be proscribed in the UK – following the Brize Norton action. 

Britain will also collaborate with Ukraine to “explore the development of next-generation low-power AI chips” designed to power drones, robotics and autonomous systems.

The UK government will give private companies access to the data from the Avengers Lab to help build new systems, and pilot projects have been announced at three British startups. 

Prime minister Andy Burnham said: “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.” 

The partnership will involve engineers, academics, businesses and military experts from both countries to “act as an AI cell to solve key national security challenges”, No 10 said.