NETWORK CENTRIC WARFARE: A PERSPECTIVE AND ITS STATUS IN SOUTH ASIAN MILITARIES

Abstract

Advancement in Technology has had great impact in every sphere of human activity, and so in the ways war has been fought. The two wars fought by Allied forces in the Middle East, have revolutionised the way war had been thought, planned and executed in the past. The usage of technology was extensive, and for more effective “effect based operations”, aim being “more for less”. The war had moved from the frontline, to rear HQs, and to some extent even to the drawing rooms across the world. The end of last millennium saw militaries being driven to a new era in warfare, the era of Net Centric Warfare (NCW). With the introduction of this new concept the underlying economics and technologies towards conduct of war had changed. It must be understood that NCW is more about networking than networks. It is about the increased combat power that can be generated by a network-centric force. We need to understand how the information technology has impacted the evolution of warfare specially in the last two decades and how the concept of NCW has developed as a force multiplier. Also, NCW has had a great impact on the Observe Orientate Decide and Act (OODA) loop in the decision making process in the military hierarchy. A look at the present status of NCW in the militaries and also the future trends in this field will be studied in this paper. The Militaries in South Asia have also embarked on the road to modernise their forces, specially with regards to Information technology. The paper will look at the present status of this aspect in the major militaries in the Asian region with specific reference to South Asia. In the end, the areas which need to be addressed to make the concept of NCW fully integrated will be studied.