Network Centric Warfare-Concepts and Challenges

Technological advances made in Network computing, Mobile computing, data transmissions, Sensors and integrated digital technologies for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance have led to development of highly advanced battlefield weapons. The pace of the current and future battle is going to be so fast that there will be no time to wait for instructions and advice from the Commanding Officer. Added to this, is the complex nature of wars the defence forces are asked to handle, world over. These factors put together have revolutionized the way the wars are prosecuted. The shift clearly is towards what is commonly called as Network-Centric Warfare (NCW). This paper presents and comments on the concepts, methodologies, prevailing technologies, potential benefits and the challenges faced by NCW in modern warfare. The discussion in the paper is purely theoretical and academic in nature, with an aim to review and provide insight on this emerging field.