The Defence Communication Services Agency (DCSA) was an agency of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

responsible for the procurement and delivery of Communications and Information Services (CIS) to the defence community and related public and private sector bodies. The Agency was formed on 1 April 1998, bringing together a range of CIS organisations across all three services. Formally a component of the

Defence Logistics Organisation The Defence Logistics Organisation (DLO) was a key element of the UK Ministry of Defence, responsible for supporting the armed forces throughout the various stages of an operation or exercise; from training, deployment, in-theatre training and ...

, the Agency brigaded together elements of the

Defence Procurement Agency The Defence Procurement Agency (DPA), was an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence responsible for the acquisition of materiel, equipment and services, for the British armed forces. Led by the Chief of Defence Procurement, ...

, the DLO and operational support elements within the three military Front Line Commands. On 31 March 2007 the Agency was subsumed into

Defence Equipment & Support Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics ...

, a new organisation bringing together the DPA and DLO, as the Information Systems & Services (ISS) cluster within that organisation.

Organisation

The DCSA was formed of a core headquarters, led by a military Chief Executive at

Two-star rank An officer of two-star rank is a senior commander in many of the armed services holding a rank described by the NATO code of OF-7. The term is also used by some armed forces which are not NATO members. Typically, two-star officers hold the rank ...

, supported by an Operations Directorate, Directorate of Engineering and Interoperability, and a number of Integrated Project Teams, responsible for the procurement and support of systems and services. The Agency was headquartered at Basil Hill Barracks,

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the south-eastern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 national route, southwest of Swindon, southeast of Bristol, northeast of Bath and southwest o ...

, Wiltshire, and had 5,000 staff at facilities in many locations in the UK and overseas. DCSA Headquarters *Directorate of Operations **Customer Account Management - Basil Hill Barracks, Corsham **Global Operations and Security Control Centre - Basil Hill Barracks, Corsham *Defence High Frequency Service - Very Low, Low and High Frequency Radio Services - Headquartered at HMS Forest Moor and combining RN services with RAF services formerly headquartered at

RAF Bampton Castle Royal Air Force Bampton Castle or RAF Bampton Castle is a former non-flying Royal Air Force station near Bampton Castle, Oxfordshire. The base was established by the Royal Corps of Signals in 1939 and handed over to the RAF in 1969. It was the ...

*Directorate of Engineering & Interoperability - Headquartered at

RAF Henlow RAF Henlow is a Royal Air Force station in Bedfordshire, England, equidistant from Bedford, Luton and Stevenage. It houses the RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine, the Joint Arms Control Implementation Group (JACIG), elements of Defence Equipment an ...

and bringing together RAF, RN and Army technical engineering services.

Integrated Project Teams

Network Layer

*Defence Fixed Networks - Fixed and mobile telephony and core network services - Copenacre Site, Corsham *Satellite Communications -

MoD Abbey Wood MoD Abbey Wood is a Ministry of Defence establishment at Filton, Bristol, United Kingdom. The purpose-built site houses the MoD's Defence Equipment and Support and Submarine Delivery Agency procurement organisations. It was opened by Queen Eliz ...

*HF Radio - MoD Abbey Wood

Presentation Layer

Defence Information Infrastructure Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) is a secure military network owned by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence MOD. It is used by all branches of the armed forces, including the Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force as well as MOD ...

- Desktop services - Copenacre Site, Corsham *Ground Based Air Defence - *Air Command and Control

Application Layer

*Corporate and Business Applications *Logistics Applications *Command, Control and Intelligence Systems *UK

Cooperative Engagement Capability Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) is a sensor network with integrated Fire-control system, fire control capability that is intended to significantly improve battle force anti-aircraft warfare, air and missile defense capabilities by combining ...

(naval air defence system)

Formation

The founding CE was

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

Tony Raper Major-General Anthony John Raper CB CBE is a former Quartermaster-General to the Forces. Military career Educated at Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College, and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, Raper was commissioned into the Royal Corps of ...

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, late

Royal Signals The Royal Corps of Signals (often simply known as the Royal Signals – abbreviated to R SIGNALS or R SIGS) is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communi ...

. He was succeeded by Rear Admiral Rees Ward in 2002, who continued as CE until 2007 when the Agency was disestablished.

References

External links

Defence Communications and Services Agency
- Dead link

Corsham Defence agencies of the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government History of telecommunications in the United Kingdom Military communications of the United Kingdom Organisations based in Wiltshire Science and technology in Wiltshire {{UK-mil-stub