Network Centric Warfare would give a quantum leap to the existing naval capabilities and also effect its organisation, tactics and doctrine. However, the navies will have to develop new strategies and organisations to exploit its full potential.

Network Centric Warfare (NCW), which originated in 1997, is the key concept of the navy to prepare itself for the 21st century warfare by using the advances in information technology (IT) to connect ships, aircraft, and shore installations with a highly integrated network. This would give a quantum leap to the existing naval capabilities and also effect its organisation, tactics and doctrine. NCW will also require to achieve the capability of being able to operate effectively with other friendly navies if the situation so demands.

The Advance IT will include computers, high-speed data links, and networking software to connect the navy with highly integrated computer/telecommunications networks. Ships, aircraft, and shore installations will be able to share immense amount of information at great speed and without any gap. NCW will improve the navy’s combat capability and efficiency by achieving speed in decision making thereby enabling the commanders to take decisions faster than their adversaries and thus defeating them or closing there options. NCW enables the navy to achieve information superiority, has mass effect on the target and prevents the adversaries from carrying out their plans. NCW also enables command, control, communications, computers, and intelligence (C4I) efforts in the navy. The key components of NCW are Cooperative Engagement Capability (CEC) and IT-21 programme (in the US terminology).

A brief detail of NCW is as follows:
CEC: CEC is a sensor network with integrated fire control that provides a means by which data from existing sensor and fire control systems can be combined and distributed to each element of a networked force. It is simple in concept but very complex to develop and implement. There are many factors besides the horizon that can effect radar detection and so individual radars sometimes have gaps in their tracks. But these gaps can be covered by other radars in the network and thereby producing a composite picture with the help of data fusion. Each unit in the CEC network carries out data fusion with data received from the other units. As a result, units in the network share a common, composite and real-time air-defence picture. The CEC when inducted in the navy provides the following:
Synergised air picture: The synergised air picture is based on all the data available and is thus superior to that of any single sensor, providing tracks with identical track numbers throughout the net.
Amphibious and Littoral operations: Operating in the littoral pose a complex war fighting challenge as the operations are conducted where merchant and civilian shipping may also operate, besides clutter created by terrain and urban environment for the radars. Such an environment will require integration of sensors and combat systems in a common tactical picture. The CEC thus has war fighting capability during amphibious operations by allocating radar sectors in an integrated manner in order to provide gap free coverage.
Airborne EW Aircraft: Data inputs from CEC equipped airborne EW aircraft will extend this coverage even further, providing surface units more accurate tracking and situational awareness at ranges well beyond shipboard sensor coverage. At present Indian Navy does not have such an aircraft, but if acquired in the future, it will certainly improve the operational effectiveness.
Ballistic missile Defence: CEC contributes to theater ballistic missile defence by providing a continuous fire-control quality track on the missile from detection to destruction.
IT-21: IT-21 is a US Naval term which means IT for the 21st Century. However, it can be applied to any navy as it is the establishment of intranet for transmitting tactical and administrative data with the help of desktop computers, data links and networking software. This is meant for the operations at sea with the fleet. The US Navy plans to build IT-21 around commercial, off-the-shelf desktop computers and networking software which should be capable of providing multimedia intranet to include text, data, graphics, images, voice, and video. The US Navy believes IT-21 will significantly improve the US naval war-fighting capability and achieve substantial cost reductions by significantly reducing the time and number of people required to carry out various tactical and administrative functions.