DEFENCE INTELLIGENCE
Part of Strategic Command, Defence Intelligence (DI) empowers decision makers in the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and UK government by providing intelligence products and assessments.
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Defence Intelligence is part of the United Kingdom’s Strategic Command; it is responsible for empowering decision-makers in both the Ministry of Defence and the UK government.
Defence Intelligence can trace its roots back to 1946, when the Joint Intelligence Bureau (JIB) was established under the direction of General Kenneth Strong, who was the Chief of Intelligence in World War 2 to General Eisenhower, the
Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe.
After a unified Ministry of Defence was formed in 1964, the JIB and the three single-Service intelligence organisations were amalgamated to form the Defence Intelligence Staff. In 2009 the DIS was renamed Defence Intelligence.
General Sir Jim Hockenhull KBE ADC GEN, Commander of Strategic Command (and late of the Intelligence Corps)
The Pathfinder Building at RAF Wyton, Cambridgeshire, opened in 2013 and is the state-of-the-art home to DI’s largest concentration of staff
Responsibilities
DI works in close partnership with other UK intelligence and security agencies – GCHQ, MI5 and MI6 – to provide intelligence products and assessments for the MOD and UK Government. It is led by the Chief of Defence Intelligence, Adrian Bird.
Organisation
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DI has around 4,500 personnel, of which two thirds are from the armed forces and one third are civilians. They are based mainly in London, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire.
Oversight
All of DI’s activity must comply with relevant laws and government policies, and it is subject to external scrutiny. The Investigatory Powers Commissioner inspects DI’s records for activities which may fall within the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) and the Investigatory Powers Act (2016). The Parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee oversees the administration, policy and expenditure of DI and, in certain circumstances, operational activity. Both bodies publish their findings.