The largest ever UK defence AI trial across land, sea, and air has provided valuable data to develop and validate AI algorithms, which will benefit crews across all domains.

The trial will benefit the Royal Navy through enhanced maritime surveillance, better threat detection in complex sea environments, and enabling faster decision-making across all operations, which the Royal Air Force will benefit from advanced target recognition systems that can process information from multiple airborne sensors simultaneously, reduce pilot cognitive load, and enable more effective air operations.

This trial builds on previous ones, and involved around 200 scientists from the Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl), military personnel, industry representatives, and international partners, all to come together to develop critical AI services for armed forces.

The trial lasted five days, and collected visual infrared and band radar data from vessels, vehicles, and aircraft.

Minister for defence procurement and industry, Rt Hon Maria Eagle MP, said: “We can all see how AI has the potential to impact our lives and enhance our war fighting ability, and the UK defence is embracing this lead forward in technology to better support our personnel on the frontline.

“Significant trials like this, working with international and industry partners, demonstrate the rapid progress we’re making to utilise new technology for keeping Britain secure at home and strong abroad.”