MoD’s new £2bn artificial intelligence battle lab to train 60,000 British soldiers a year

The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded a £2 billion, 15-year contract to deliver an AI-enabled military training system designed to prepare British forces for complex and technology-driven battlefields.

The new “AI Battle Lab” programme will use artificial intelligence, data analytics and immersive synthetic environments to train around 60,000 soldiers annually. The initiative is part of the government’s wider effort to modernise the Armed Forces under the recently announced Defence Investment Plan (DIP). 

The contract was awarded to Omnia Training, a consortium led by Raytheon UK that includes four other UK-based companies: Capita, Cervus, Rheinmetall UK and Skyral. The programme will support around 400 jobs across the UK, including the creation of 270 highly skilled positions and 100 apprenticeships over the life of the contract. 

AI and analytics at the centre of military training

Rather than relying solely on traditional field exercises, the new training system will combine live exercises with virtual and constructive simulations, allowing personnel to rehearse missions in highly realistic digital environments.

The platform will use AI-powered analytics to assess individual and collective performance, identify capability gaps and tailor future training to improve readiness. By generating detailed exercise data, commanders will be able to adapt training more rapidly and better prepare forces for modern, multi-domain operations. 

The MoD said the capability will help create a more “lethal, combat-ready British Army” while improving training efficiency across the Armed Forces.

“Our soldiers serve our nation with courage and exceptional dedication. I am absolutely determined they get the quality training they need to keep us safe,” said Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis MBE MP. “This programme shows how our investment in defence will create good, skilled jobs in the UK, including up to 60,000 new opportunities through our £298 billion investment over the next four years.” 

The UK’s new Combat Laboratory 

A new Combat Laboratory will use AI, advanced analytics, and virtual environments to simulate the complexity of modern warfare. 

The platform will be used to train up to 60,000 soldiers per year, “anywhere, anytime,” building an army prepared to respond to emerging battlefield threats by applying lessons from Ukraine. 

“Our UK‑based team of innovators, engineers and experts will give soldiers and commanders a new level of training realism and set an example for effective collaboration between the Army and industry,” said James Gray, Managing Director and Chief Executive of Raytheon UK. 

Using data and AI, the Combat Laboratory will monitor performance, spot patterns, and analyse operations to help improve decisions.

It will support jobs in Wiltshire and beyond in areas such as software engineering, artificial intelligence, cloud engineering, and data analytics. 

Wiltshire College and the University of Staffordshire will partner to develop 100 apprenticeships. Young people will have long-term pathways into highly skilled defence careers, ranging from data and modelling to project management. Veteran jobs will also be available, with some requiring prior military experience and based in Warminster – a town with deep military roots. 

Over 44 British businesses supply the project across Wiltshire, Leicestershire, Hampshire and beyond. 

Supporting the UK’s defence transformation

The announcement comes as the UK accelerates the adoption of artificial intelligence across defence following the publication of its AI strategy and the Strategic Defence Review.

The government has increasingly argued that AI will become fundamental to future military operations, enabling faster decision-making, improved situational awareness and better integration of information from multiple domains, including land, air, maritime, cyber and space. 

This June, the government also established a Rapid AI Delivery Taskforce (RAID) to accelerate the deployment of operational AI capabilities across defence. 

The Army has previously outlined ambitions to become “AI Ready,” integrating artificial intelligence across everything from administrative functions to battlefield decision support while maintaining human oversight of critical decisions.