As the world enters a new millennium, the U.S. military simultaneously enters a new era in warfare -- an era in which warfare is affected by a changing strategic environment and rapid technological change. The United States and its multinational partners are experiencing a transition from the Industrial Age to the Information Age. Simultaneously, it is fully engaged in a global war on terrorism set in a new period of globalization. These changes, as well as the experiences gained during recent and ongoing military operations, have resulted in the current drive to transform the force with network-centric warfare (NCW) as the centerpiece of this effort. This document describes how the tenets and principles of NCW are providing the foundation for developing new warfighting concepts, organizations, and processes that will allow U.S. forces to maintain a competitive advantage over potential adversaries, now and in the future. In sum, the report provides an overview of the ongoing implementation of NCW in the Department of Defense (DoD). A brief description of NCW, including its origins, its central role in force transformation, its tenets and principles, and an implementation strategy, are provided in Chapter 1. An examination of NCW as an emerging theory of war, its relationship to the four domains of Information Age warfare, the growing evidence of its benefits, and the warfighting advantages it can provide are examined in Chapter 2. Chapter 3 focuses on network-centric operations (NCO), including the relationship of NCO to the overarching Joint Operations Concepts (JOpsC), the NCO experience in Afghanistan and Iraq, the development of the NCO Conceptual Framework, and the conduct of NCO case studies. An overview of Joint and Service plans and initiatives to develop and implement network-centric capabilities and the growing investment in these capabilities by our allies and multinational partners are provided in Chapter 4.

Warfare is about human behavior in a context of organized violence directed toward political ends. So network-centric warfare (NCW) is about human behavior within a networked environment. This report by the Office of Transformation, U.S. Dept. of Defense shows that the U.S. military is embracing NCW. It explains NCW & examines how the profound increases in capability & performance attributed to NCW implementation are being attained from the perspective of force building & actual operations. Illustrations.

This study examines three primary questions: (1) What is the definition of network-centric warfare?, (2) Are the military services implementing the network-centric warfare concept?, and (3) Is the network-centric warfare concept a new theory of warfare or rather a modification or extension of previous theories? To answer these questions, various publications on network-centric warfare and the various military service transformation plans were reviewed. The definition of network-centric warfare developed is the linkage of people, systems, and platforms to form a self-synchronized networked force that creates shared battlespace awareness for information superiority and speed of command. A review of the services transformation plans showed that the services may not be using the same terms, but they are implementing the concepts of network-centric warfare. The study concludes that network-centric warfare is not a new theory of warfare, but a concept that supports the maneuver theory of warfare, similar to the concept of blitzkrieg developed by Germany prior to World War II. To emphasize this the term "network-enabled warfare" is suggested as a more appropriate term.

Network-Centric Naval Forces: A Transition Strategy for Enhancing Operational Capabilities is a study to advise the Department of the Navy regarding its transition strategy to achieve a network-centric naval force through technology application. This report discusses the technical underpinnings needed for a transition to networkcentric forces and capabilities.