The Ministry of Defence, the US Defense Advanced Research
Projects Agency (DARPA) and the
Canadian Department of National Defence will collaboratively
pursue research, development, test and evaluation technologies
for artificial intelligence (AI), cyber, resilient systems
and information domain-related technologies.
The methodologies, algorithms, capabilities and tools created
will be exploited by developing new concepts of operations that
focus on real-world challenges.
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) will be
the lead agency for the UK. Defence Research and Development
Canada (DRDC) will be
the lead organisation on behalf of Canada.
The collaboration has been driven by the rapid pace of technology
development and the future challenges in an ever-changing
geopolitical environment. This effort will further leverage
relevant research programmes among all nations and reduce
duplication of efforts.
Dr Nick Joad, Director Science and Technology at UK Ministry of
Defence, said:
Our international research collaborations with both the US and
Canada are some of our most vital and enduring partnerships.
This agreement cements our collective commitments to advancing
emerging cyber security technologies such as cyber security and
artificial intelligence to enhance the defence and security of
our nations.
Dstl Chief
Executive, Dr Paul Hollinshead, said:
This partnership with two of our closest allies will help keep
the UK secure at home and strong abroad today and in the future.
Together, we are driving value for money for our respective
taxpayers while creating mission critical capabilities through
science and technology, keeping our countries and our people
safe.
DARPA
Director, Stefanie Tompkins, added:
We know we're stronger together than separately. The trilateral
collaboration is a big step toward enhancing our understanding in
the outlined research and development thrust areas. Working with
our international partners on science and technology helps us all
leverage each other's individual strengths in order to develop
much greater collective capability.
DRDC
Assistant Deputy Minister, Dr Jaspinder Komal, said:
Due to the pervasive nature and rapid evolution of artificial
intelligence in dual-use technologies with civilian and military
applications, we've identified this as a priority area for
defence research.
We're pleased to be working with our allies in the UK and US
through this trilateral agreement, which will potentially enable
a multitude of cooperative research projects in the cyber and
information domains.
In addition to strengthening international partnerships, the goal
is to continue reducing technological risks so new capabilities
can transition into operational use as quickly as possible.
One research project already underway is the Cyber Agents for
Security Testing and Learning Environments (CASTLE)
programme, which trains AI to autonomously defend
networks against advanced persistent cyber threats.
Other research and development areas of interest include:
- human-AI
teaming, including military medical triage
- defining and creating trustworthy AI systems, even in the face of
attacks by skilled, high-resource adversaries
- protecting, detecting attacks on, and measuring the health of
the information domain
- producing tools and techniques that result in more resilient
and secure systems, such as rapid certification of software
Collaboration in these and other topics was deepened at a
symposium convened by DARPA in
summer 2024 which included representatives from across the UK, US
and Canadian governments.
Find out more about
Dstl's
research into AI
