Indian Air Force has become the first among the Armed forces to interlink major installations throughout the country on a high bandwidth network. The force is ushering in a modern, state-of-the-art digital information grid next week by dedicating Air Force Network -AFNET – to the nation. An official release in New Delhi today said that AFNET marks the successful clearance of another milestone for release of radio spectrum, a very valuable but finite resource. The mission comes in the backdrop of an IT Roadmap document of the Defence Ministry stipulating automation, simulated training and mandatory computer proficiency in the services. The nationwide programme was launched by the IAF in collaboration with the private industry to accelerate the use of Information Technology (IT) as well as to link all field units using a dedicated satellite. Defence Minister A K Antony will launch the AFNET services at a special function in New Delhi next week.