Ukraine and Palantir create AI platform to combat Russian drones

On January 21, Ukraine officially announced the launch of Brave1 Dataroom — a secure digital environment, developed jointly with the American technology company Palantir. The purpose of the platform is to accelerate the implementation of artificial intelligence technologies for detecting and destroying Russian drones used in the war against the country.

Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov emphasized that "artificial intelligence is becoming a decisive factor on the modern battlefield." According to him, the first task of the Dataroom will be "the development of autonomous technologies for detecting and intercepting air threats — a key element for the security of Ukraine".

Data from the front and artificial intelligence

The new Dataroom, built on Palantir's software solutions, already contains large databases of visual and thermal data on various aerial objects, including Shahed-type drones, widely used by Russian forces in attacks against Ukrainian cities. The information is collected from real combat operations and will continue to expand.

Louis Mosley, Executive Vice President of Palantir for the UK and Europe, who has been coordinating the company's projects in Ukraine since 2022, defined the initiative as providing Ukrainian engineers with "access to leading military software support and unique combat data that allows them to create the next generation of defense technologies based on algorithms".

According to a publication in The Washington Post, the strategic goal is to build a national autonomous air defense system within six months. It will use millions of units of sensor and visual data accumulated during the four-year war to train artificial intelligence models capable of predicting Russian strikes and directing inexpensive interceptors to targets.

Growing race with Russian production

The program started against the background of rapidly increasing Russian drone production capabilities. Commander-in-Chief Alexander Syrsky told the Ukrainian edition LB.ua that Moscow produces about 404 Shahed-type drones daily, and plans to increase their production to 1,000 units per day.

According to him, Russia is already using new versions with jet engines, called "Geran-4" and "Geran-5", which reach speeds between 350 and 500 km/h — significantly more than the current 180 km/h for models with a propeller engine. This makes the task of intercepting them far more complex. There is also data that some of them are equipped with air-to-air missiles capable of hitting Ukrainian aircraft.

Andriy Gritsenyuk, CEO of Brave1, commented to The Washington Post that the ultimate goal of the project is "to make Ukraine unconquerable", adding: "The war will end when the enemy realizes that its political goals are unattainable".

Step towards autonomous defense

Brave1 Dataroom is an important step towards building a secure information infrastructure, where the development of AI systems is closely linked to data proven on the battlefield. Defense companies and engineers in Ukraine can apply for access after passing security certification procedures. In the future, the project may be expanded to allow the exchange of algorithms proven in practice with partner countries.

According to the latest data, Ukraine already produces about 1,500 FPV interceptor drones per day (as of the beginning of January). In addition, the country presented a new "Octopus" interceptor model, developed jointly with the UK. It uses image recognition algorithms, which allows it to independently detect and attack targets.