Ukraine has collected ‘228 years’ of battlefield data since Russia war started: “This is food for the…”

As artificial intelligence (AI) takes center stage in the technology world, Ukraine finds itself in possession of a valuable asset: millions of hours of drone footage that can be used to train AI models for battlefield decision-making.

According to a report by news agency Reuters, Ukraine has amassed a vast trove of battlefield data (videos) through its extensive use of drones. The claims come as the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has seen both sides deploy AI to identify targets and analyse images with speed faster than humans.

Oleksandr Dmitriev, founder of the OCHI system – which centralises and analyses drone footage from over 15,000 frontline crews – revealed that his system has collected over 2 million hours of video since 2022 – which is roughly equivalent to 228 years of footage, the report said.

The footage can be used to train AI models

According to Dmitriev, the footage can be used to train AI models in combat tactics and other aspects of warfare.

“This is food for the AI. If you want to teach an AI, you give it 2 million hours (of video), it will become something supernatural,” Dmitriev was quoted as saying.

Dmitriev said AI models can be trained to identify combat tactics, target identification and weapons effectiveness assessment. Additionally, by analysing the trajectories and angles at which weapons are most effective, AI can provide valuable insights for optimising military strategies.

“It is essentially [an] experience which can be turned into mathematics,” he said.

Reuters also said that Ukraine’s defence ministry has developed another system, called Avengers, that centralises and collects video from drones and CCTV.