SP Guide Publications in association with the Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) is organizing a one-day seminar on “Network Centric Warfare in the Indian context” on April 21 at Manekshaw Centre, Delhi. The seminar is being inaugurated by Dr. V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri and the Director General of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

The session on ‘NCW and the Indian Armed Forces: Present Status and Concerns’ is being chaired by Lt. Gen N.B. Singh, Director General of Information Systems and the panelists include Maj. Gen D.V. Kalra (Retd), former ADG IS (Topic: Indian Army moving towards net centricity); Col K.P.M. Das (Retd) of Cisco; and Brig L. Chand, DACIDS (Ops) HQ IDS (Tri-Service effects based operations).

The session on ‘Future Prospects and Challenges for NCW’ is being chaired by Lt. Gen V.K. Kapoor (Retd), Editor, SP Guide Publications and the panelists are Air Vice Marshal D.N. Ganesh (Retd), former ACAS (Topic: Roadmap of the Armed Forces); Harvinder S. Rajwant of Cisco (Keeping the Networks Secure) and Wg. Cdr (Retd) Arif Khan of Ericsson (Topic: Spin-off benefits of commercial technologies).

Key developments

The seminar gains importance as the battlespace has got redefined, where reliable information is pivotal to the success of any operation. In 2009, the Indian Army inducted “Shakti” artillery combat command and control system (ACCCS), a network of military grade tactical computers that automate and facilitate decision support for all the operational aspects of artillery functions from the corps down to a battery level.

In the information age, power is increasingly derived from information sharing, information access and speed and the Indian armed forces are on course.

Network for Spectrum

The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) started a project called ‘Network for Spectrum’ to set up a fibre optics network for the exclusive use of Indian armed forces in exchange for spectrum being released by the defence forces. It aims to facilitate the growth of teledensity, ensuring modernisation of defence communications and supporting net-centric military operations.

DoT is laying 40,000 km long optical fibre cable connecting 219 army stations, 33 navy stations and 162 points for the air force. The total cost of implementing the project is estimated to be Rs. 10,000 crore.

AFNET

AFNET or (Air Force Network), launched in September 2010 is part of the project and it is likely to be extended and connected to the Digital Information Grid Project under implementation for the Indian Navy and the Indian Army by 2015. AFNET has been developed at a cost of Rs. 1,077 crore in collaboration with Cisco Systems, HCL Infosystems and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL).