Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh
Credit: X/@PTI_News
New Delhi: Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Marshal A P Singh on Saturday was appointed as the next Chief of the Air Staff, who will take over from the incumbent Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari on Sept 30.
Air Marshal Singh who had over 5,000 hours of flying experience in fixed and rotary wing aircraft, commanded an operational fighter squadron besides being a qualified flying instructor and an experimental test pilot, who was closely involved with the development of Tejas LCA.
Commissioned in the IAF’s fighter pilot stream in December 1984, he led the MiG-29 upgrade project management team at Moscow.
In his four decade long career, he held several key staff appointments like Air Defence Commander at South Western Air Command, Gandhinagar and Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command, Shillong.
Prior to assuming the charge of Vice Chief of the Air Staff, he was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command, Allahabad.
Air Marshal Singh was at the forefront of recently concluded Exercise Tarang Shakti – the first multinational air combat drill held in India after 60 years. He also flew extensively during the drill including a sortie with the Vice Chiefs of the Army and Navy – every one in a Tejas LCA.
When the German Air Force chief was flying in a Typhoon to Sulur last month to participate in the first leg of Tarang Shakti, he was intercepted by IAF aircraft over the Indian air space, led by Singh in a Tejas LCA.
Amidst the government pressure on Atma Nirbharta, Air Marshal Singh at a public function in July said self-reliance couldn’t come at the cost of national defence as the capability gap between India and her adversaries were growing continuously.
He said there would be compulsions on the part of the forces to “deviate” from the path of self-reliance, if the force didn’t get the weapons and systems it requires to survive.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College, he also served in various instructional and foreign appointments. He will remain the IAF chief till 2026.