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TITAN is a large unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) that provides support for small, dismounted military operations.


In the UK, the defence sector – with its existing legal, safety and regulatory compliance regimes – is already well-prepared for the challenge of adopting new technologies, and the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has clearly stated that it is developing AI ambitiously, safely and responsibly by implementing its AI Ethics Principles. Working alongside allies and industry partners, this approach will ultimately result in more robust, reliable and effective AI-enabled capabilities, thereby advancing the UK’s military edge.


Champion, enable, innovate The MoD has been quick to embrace the potential AI offers from the battlespace to the business space, laying out its goals in June 2022’s ‘Defence Artificial Intelligence Strategy’. In the report’s foreword, then-Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace noted the dangers of falling behind on AI, even as he laid out the UK’s strategy for implementing the technology across its defence forces. “AI has enormous potential to enhance capability, but it is all too often spoken about as a potential threat,” he wrote. “AI-enabled systems do indeed pose a threat to our security, in the hands of our adversaries, and it is imperative that we do not cede them a vital advantage.” With this in mind, the MoD has announced plans to invest more than £6.6bn by 2025 in defence research and development with specific focus given to emerging technologies including artificial intelligence and AI-enabled autonomous systems, according to the 2021 Integrated Review, ensuring the UK remains competitive in this space in the coming years.


One key aspect of the MoD’s AI strategy lay in the formation of the Defence AI Centre (DAIC), which was first announced as a prime ministerial priority project back in the 2020 Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR). The DAIC was


formally established by the Integrated Review and began operation in 2022, tasked with transforming the MoD into an ‘AI-ready’ organisation for the strategic advantage of its armed forces. “There was a sense that we needed a central UK hub to lead the conversation and thinking around AI for defence. And when I say defence, I don’t just mean the UK MoD, but also the wider ecosystem – international partners, cross-government teams […] industry and academia,” says Hugh Woodward, the DAIC’s head of HQ and strategy. “You could think of the DAIC as the central catalyst to help accelerate the adoption and development of responsible AI across defence.”


In this role, the DAIC embraces a mantra of “champion, enable, innovate”. It champions AI in defence by advancing the understanding and development of AI capabilities across the MoD, while providing the department of over 200,000 personnel with a focal point for this technology. At the same time, and at the heart of its purpose, the DAIC is tasked with enabling other MoD teams to develop AI systems by adding value wherever it can – providing common AI services and good practice, alongside a critical mass of centralised AI-related expertise. That’s ‘champion’ and ‘enable’ covered, but the DAIC is also focused on innovating, leading and directly working on several MoD projects aimed at providing AI solutions to real defence challenges. “When we say ‘innovate’, we didn’t mean just coming up with good ideas,” Woodward notes. “Defence innovation is about putting capabilities into service – actually driving a genuine change.” The DAIC leads AI development projects itself for two main reasons. First, because it makes sense for the central hub to drive those projects that can benefit the entire MoD, such as in the case of ‘MODGPT’ – the DAIC’s large language model project. Second, because the project addresses a


Defence & Security Systems International / www.defence-and-security.com


£6.6bn


The amount the UK MoD intends to invest in defence R&D for emerging technologies.


UK MoD 9


MoD Crown Copyright News/Editorial Licence.


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