The Defence Geographic Centre (DGC) provides geospatial information, services and liaison to the UK Ministry of Defence and international partners.

The primary role of DGC is to provide land maps, aeronautical charts, positional information, geo-referenced imagery and digital data in raster, matrix, and vector formats for UK defence planning, operations and training. This can be satisfied by material collected on a global basis or produced in house. DGC also provides expert advice to defence on international boundaries, geographic names and geodetic/geophysical matters.

Demand for conventional paper maps and charts continues alongside a significant growth in the demand for digital data to support weapons platforms, systems, navigation and C4I (Command, Control, Communication, Computation and Information). DGC data now forms a key component of most modern weapon systems and is a key enabler for their efficient use.

DGC comprises three departments:

1. The MOD Geospatial Library holds a global collection of over 700,000 different maps, air charts, atlases, digital geospatial products and other geographic sources.

2. The MOD Map and Air Chart Depot holds planning stock to support UK contingency planning requirements and bulk map stocks to meet current operational requirements.

3. The Production and Reproduction facility produces a wide range of maps, charts and digital data. Production also provides a crisis response capability in the form of rapid revisions, image maps, digital products and bulk map printing.