Hardly hush hush from the Scampton Site…….
Introduction: Air defence for the United Kingdom is performed by the UK Air Surveillance And Control System (ASACS), through the Chief Of Staff Operations, for Strike Command.
Within the ASACS, the CRC, or Control and Reporting Centre, performs two functions; the first is to produce a Recognised Air Picture of the UK’s airspace and the second is to police that airspace, scrambling fighters where necessary to intercept and identify any aircraft that are deemed to be suspicious.
To bridge the gap between the old ASACS system and the new NATO ACCS system due to be online around 2012, the UK Air Defence Ground Environment (UKADGE) Capability Maintenance Programme (UCMP) was born and IBM won the contract to supply the interim computer system at two locations. The CRC at RAF Boulmer is the first of these new CRCs which has been operational since July 2004 and the second CRC was created here at RAF Scampton and came online in January 2006.
The CRC currently employs approximately 150 personnel who are either Fighter Controllers or Engineers and is housed in a building which was used to brief the ‘Dambuster’ Squadron prior to their historic raid in World War II.
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