News / Military

Plans for ‘Boris bunker’ revealed ahead of publication of key national security document

Sunday, 07 March 2021 3:37 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 07 March 2021 3:37 PM ]

When it is completed in the summer the UK's Situation Center will look similar to the US's Situation Room

In a major overhaul to how national security is managed at the highest reaches of government, the UK is set to copy the US in building a White House-style Situation Room just a stone’s throw away from the Prime Minister’s residence in Downing Street.

According to the Sunday Times (March 07), the so-called “Boris bunker” is set to cost £9 million and it could become the “most significant” change to defense and security management in the UK since the “end of conscription” in 1963.

Dubbed the Situation Center – or SitCen – the facility will be built immediately next to the Cobra meeting rooms in the basement of the Cabinet Office, which houses emergency meetings.

The facility – which is a mere two-minute walk from Downing Street – is set to open in the summer.

The plan is being described as a “centerpiece” of the government’s long-delayed defense, security and foreign policy review.

Biggest defence and security review in decades is struggling to get off the ground

Boris Johnson

According to multiple reports, the review is at long last expected to be released on March 16.

The 100-page document, entitled “Global Britain in a Competitive Age”, envisages a root and branch transformation of British defense and security capabilities.

Of note the review reportedly calls for the creation of a new Royal Air Force Space Command, a National Cyber Force, in addition to lobbying for artificial intelligence to be placed at the forefront of defense planning.

Plans for the “Boris bunker” come on the heels of a scandal centered on a proposed charity scheme by Boris Johnson to raise funds for the upkeep of his home at Number 10 Downing Street.