KYIV, — Ukraine’s Ministry of Defence said artificial intelligence is reducing by up to 90% the time military analysts need to detect signs of enemy activity in photographs and video.
According to the ministry, AI systems can automatically examine visual data and identify enemy positions and military equipment. By automating the initial analysis, the technology allows personnel to assess potential targets more quickly than through manual examination alone.
The ministry said the time savings also affect the wider military kill chain, which covers the stages from finding and fixing a target to tracking, selecting a means of engagement, carrying out the engagement and assessing its results. AI is being used to reduce the time required at several of these stages rather than replacing the process itself.
Human remains responsible for strike decisions
Ukraine says the use of AI on the battlefield continues to follow the human-in-the-loop principle. AI can identify potential targets and accelerate their assessment, but the final decision to engage remains with a human operator.
The Ministry of Defence said the level of system autonomy is limited according to the potential consequences of an error. The approach is intended to increase the speed of battlefield analysis while keeping authority over the use of force with people.
More than 70 AI and machine-vision systems in use
The ministry said Ukrainian Defence Forces units are currently using more than 70 systems based on artificial intelligence and machine vision for detecting, recognizing and engaging targets.
Ukraine's AI development effort also involves a growing domestic industrial base. The ministry said more than 200 Ukrainian companies produce AI-enabled drones. Brave1, Ukraine's state defense-technology cluster, separately lists more than 200 AI product manufacturers within its wider defense-technology ecosystem.
The Brave1 Market also provides military users with access to AI-related technologies. The ministry said 46 AI solutions are available, including technologies for target recognition, optical stabilization and automatic terminal guidance.
AI is being trained on battlefield data
Ukraine is also developing infrastructure to train military AI systems using real-world battlefield information.
The Ministry of Defence said more than 100 Ukrainian companies have access to Brave1 Dataroom, a secure environment for testing, training and fine-tuning military AI models. Developers can use structured visual and thermal datasets collected under real-world conditions.
Another system, Avengers Labs, provides developers with an annotated dataset containing 5 million frames collected during military missions. The data includes images of tanks, artillery, air-defense systems, infantry groups and aerial targets, including reconnaissance UAVs and Shahed-type drones.
The resulting Avengers AI platform has been integrated into the Vezha module of Ukraine's DELTA combat system. The Ministry of Defence said it identifies 70% of enemy military equipment in real time while analyzing more than 100,000 video streams each month.
Defence AI Centre established in 2026
Ukraine's Ministry of Defence established the Defence AI Centre A1 in March 2026 to coordinate the wider integration of artificial intelligence into defense processes and support the development of military technology.
The ministry has also said that AI is already being incorporated into systems associated with DELTA. On August 28, the ministry announced that an AI assistant had become available to all DELTA users, allowing them to obtain answers to common questions directly through the combat-system interface.
Ukraine has set a longer-term goal of equipping 100% of frontline drones with machine-vision and AI technologies. The expansion reflects the country's broader effort to use automated analysis and machine vision to process increasing volumes of battlefield information while keeping human operators responsible for decisions to use force.
The 90% figure and the details on AI-enabled battlefield analysis were published by Ukraine's Ministry of Defence on August 28, 2026.
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