Air Chief Marshal AP Singh takes over as Indian Air Force chief

Commissioned into the air force in December 1984, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh is an accomplished fighter pilot with more than 5,000 hours of flying experience

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, 59, on Monday took over as the chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF), succeeding Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, who retired after holding the top position for three years.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh (right) takes over as the IAF chief, succeeding Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari (left) at Vayu Bhawan in Delhi on Monday.

Singh has been closely associated with the Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) programme, a platform whose newer variants will form the cornerstone of IAF’s combat power in the coming decade and beyond.

He is a qualified flying instructor and an experimental test pilot.

He has taken charge of the air force at a time when it is modernising its capabilities with locally produced military hardware, the armed forces are charting a path towards theaterisation, a long-awaited reform for the best use of the military’s resources to fight future wars, and the country is locked in a dragging military standoff with China in the Ladakh sector, as previously reported.

Commissioned into the air force in December 1984, Singh is an accomplished fighter pilot with more than 5,000 hours of flying experience.

He has commanded an operational fighter squadron, a frontline airbase, led the MiG-29 upgrade project management team in Moscow and served as the project director (flight test) at the premier National Flight Test Centre in Bengaluru, a role in which he was involved in the flight testing of the Tejas LCA Mk-1.

Other appointments held by him include Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command, Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command and Air Defence Commander at South Western Air Command.