The Corsham Computer Centre (CCC) is an underground British Ministry of Defence (MoD) installation in

Corsham Corsham is a historic market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in west Wiltshire, England. It is at the southwestern edge of the Cotswolds, just off the A4 road (England), A4 national route. It is southwest of Swindon, east of ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

, built in the 1980s. According to the MoD, the centre "processes data in support of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

". The centre has been similarly described by

Des Browne Desmond Henry Browne, Baron Browne of Ladyton, (born 22 March 1952) is a Scottish politician who served in the Cabinet of the United Kingdom under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown as Secretary of State for Defence 2006 to 2008 and Secretary of ...

in 2007, then

Secretary of State for Defence The secretary of state for defence, also known as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Ministry of Defence. As a senior minister, the incumbent is a member of the ...

, as a "data processing facility in support of Royal Navy operations". In written evidence to the

Defence Select Committee The Defence Select Committee is one of the Select Committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, having been established in 1979. It examines the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated pu ...

in 2007, the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament suggested that the centre supports the software maintenance of the United Kingdom nuclear deterrent programme,

Trident A trident (), () is a three- pronged spear. It is used for spear fishing and historically as a polearm. As compared to an ordinary spear, the three tines increase the chance that a fish will be struck and decrease the chance that a fish will b ...

. A '' The Herald'' newspaper report in 2016 stated that the "UK Software Facility" (UKSF), responsible for the Trident targeting system which was upgraded in 2015, was believed to be located at the Corsham Computer Centre. The facility was built near Hudswell Quarry, and close to the

Box Tunnel Box Tunnel passes through Box Hill on the Great Western Main Line (GWML) between Bath and Chippenham. The tunnel was the world's longest railway tunnel when it was completed in 1841. Built between December 1838 and June 1841 for the Great We ...

part of the broader complex of tunnels and quarries in the Corsham area and adjacent to the former Central Ammunition Depot built before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It is located a few hundred metres north east of the current MoD Corsham. The site falls within a wider facilities management contract, the Bristol Bath Total Facilities Management project. It was awarded to Debut Services, a

special purpose vehicle A special-purpose entity (SPE), also called a special-purpose vehicle (SPV) or a financial vehicle corporation (FVC), is a legal entity (usually a limited company of some type or, sometimes, a limited partnership) created to fulfill narrow, speci ...

of Babcock Defence and Bovis Lend Lease, in September 2007 for a period of three years, with the option to extend the contract for a further three years.

References

External links

*Phil Chamberlain
"Secret NATO Command Bunker"
''

Indymedia The Independent Media Center, better known as Indymedia, is an open publishing network of activist journalist collectives that report on political and social issues. Following beginnings during the 1999 Carnival Against Capital and 1999 Seat ...

'', 11 November 2003. Includes photograph of Corsham Computer Centre entrance. Buildings and structures in Wiltshire Corsham Data centers Information technology organisations based in the United Kingdom Military communications of the United Kingdom Installations of the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) Nuclear bunkers in the United Kingdom Science and technology in Wiltshire Trident (UK nuclear programme) United Kingdom nuclear command and control British Defence Forces {{Wiltshire-struct-stub