Russia’s defence ministry announces AI data service for drone developers

Russia’s defence ministry said on October 12 that more than 40 organisations had joined a new service providing drone developers with material for training military AI systems.

Deputy Defence Minister Dmitry Shcherbinin, who oversees the project, said participating organisations were working on neural networks, including systems intended for integration into combat drones. The announcement did not identify the participating companies.

According to the ministry, the service gives developers access to a dedicated repository of prepared video material from the use of different types of drones.

The ministry also announced a standardised data classifier. It said developers’ results were returned to the service and checked for completeness and consistency with the required format.

The ministry described this as a shared resource for its own neural-network work. Its announcement did not provide independent performance assessments or evidence of specific operational results from the new service.