The Russian Defense Ministry has revealed a new service providing drone developers with combat footage from FPV, multirotor, and fixed-wing drones to train military AI systems. The ministry said the platform will help the armed forces adapt to evolving AI-related challenges.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in September that Russia will continue to actively integrate digital technologies and AI-based solutions into its weapons development programs. However, he warned of the risks of using AI in the military, noting that cases in which the technology makes decisions autonomously have been recorded.
The new service is protected by certified information-security systems, including modern encryption and authentication tools, the Defense Ministry said on Monday. The platform also uses a standardized classification system for machine-learning data, allowing developers to organize and process information in a common format.
Developers upload the results of their work to the platform, where the data is checked for completeness and to ensure it follows the standardized format. The Defense Ministry uses the data to build and train its own AI models.
More than 40 organizations involved in AI model training have joined the project, Deputy Defense Minister Dmitry Shcherbinin said. Some are already integrating their trained models into combat drone systems, he added.
In July, the ministry announced the development of a data repository for training neural networks. Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said it will allow drone manufacturers to train neural networks for their aircraft and process data directly onboard. He acknowledged the technical complexity of the work but said solutions are already being developed. Belousov also ordered upgrades to a hardware and software system used to assess the performance of drone crews more accurately.
The Defense Ministry has also been integrating AI into drones, air defense systems, and military command and control. Russia established a separate branch of the military dedicated to unmanned systems in November 2025. Deputy Chief Sergey Ishtuganov said the branch’s training units were working closely with drone manufacturers.
Earlier this year, Belousov said Russian drones use AI for image recognition, target acquisition, and navigation. He said neural networks need continuous training, prompting the creation of data centers across the country. He also identified air defense as another area for AI development, with a project to upgrade these systems due to be completed by the end of the year in cooperation with commercial companies.
Last year, Belousov announced trials of SVOD, a system that uses AI to analyze intelligence and recommend courses of action to commanders as part of a broader digital transformation of the military. In July, Konstantin Nechaev, the commander of Russia’s Center Group of Forces, said the system enabled automated fire strikes and had been in use for nearly a year.
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