New Delhi, December 21, 2005 (PTI)

India will have to be "selective" in inducting futuristic network-centric warfare capabilities as transition to this cutting-edge techonology is proving to be a "forbiddingly high-cost affair", according to Naval chief Admiral Arun Prakash.

Asserting that the country had no other option but to induct this frontline technology, Prakash said: "We will have to pick and choose on what technology we need at what time."

Delivering the valedictory address at the first-ever tri-Service joint seminar on the ways for the Indian Armed Forces to turn network-centric, the Naval chief said though earlier estimates had put the cost at around Rs 300-400 crore, the Navy had already spent Rs 1,000 crore.

"Now, the new estimates put the figure at Rs 6,000-7,000 crore to make the Armed Forces network centric, which is steep. So we will have to be very selective in inducting network-centric system," he said.

"There can be no transplantation. We must take as much or as little of networking as we can absord, suited to our own peculiar conditions and to our genius," he said.

Describing future wars as short, intense and technology-driven conflicts, the Naval chief said network-centric technology would give the country's armed forces a decisive edge in such confrontations.

He said network-centric operations would impact all levels of war -- strategic, operational and tactical. "So network-centric operations will necessitate changes in not only the weaponary but also in the way we train our personnel."