The £1m research contract was awarded by the Ministry of Defence.

The wargames could also inform how the government responds on future national security scenarios involving both the military and other services, such as the police, and which could include actions by hostile states, disruptions to the economy or environmental crises.

"We are building the intellectual and technological capacity the UK needs to meet rapidly evolving threats seen in conflict zones today," said Mr Free.

Professor Fiona Strens, who leads the university's centre for defence and security artificial intelligence, said the contract would involve applying AI that has already been developed for Lincolnshire's food production and processing industries.

"We're taking that immense capability and pivoting it towards solving some defence problems," she said.

"The Ministry of Defence is already using AI, but the world of AI is changing so fast that keeping up is a real challenge, so there needs to be a broad range of research into how it's evolving."

The university is already heavily involved in AI research and projects, and collaborates with 84 local AI companies, many of which were created by its graduates.