Moving to a fully net-centric military or even a net-centric air service is neither cheap nor quick, even though the concept of gathering, processing and distributing information is nothing new to warfighters, said Maj. Gen. Jan Andersson, chief of the Royal Swedish Air Force, speaking Nov. 10 at the 3rd Biennial Defense News Middle East Air Chiefs Conference, just before the Dubai air show.

Militaries should not underestimate the cost of the technology that supports net-centric operations (NCO) or how long it will take to implement it and move toward a fully integrated, net-centric way of war, Andersson said.

“New technology solutions will not come cheap and will not emerge overnight,” he said.

Andersson’s remarks

In Sweden, the air force has taken the lead in net-centricity because it is traditionally the most technologically driven of the forces, Andersson said.

The Saab JAS 39 Gripen has been to key to network capabilities for the air service, and, in turn, for the entire Swedish military, he said.

“One may conclude that the Swedish air force has come very far in NCO when operating over or close to Sweden,” Andersson said. But operations farther from home present more challenges.

“In peace-support operations out of Swedish-controlled airspace, we have to adjust to international common denominators,” he said.

While Sweden is using NATO methodologies and standards, such as integrating the Link 16 tactical data link system, “NATO is far from homogeneous” in terms of interoperability and standards.

“The standards are not compulsory,” he said, and countries are inclined to develop their own technologies base on their own unique needs that then have to be revised for wider use.

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