NEW DELHI: Air Marshal Sandeep Singh on Friday took charge as the new Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force.
He succeeded Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, who became the 27th Chief of the Air Staff on Thursday.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Air Marshal Singh was commissioned in the flying branch of the IAF in December 1983, as a fighter pilot.
The officer is an experimental test pilot and a qualified flying instructor.
He has rich and diverse experience in operational and experimental test flying on various types of fighter aircraft.
He has a flying experience of 4,400 hours.
In his nearly 38 years of service in the IAF, the Air Marshal has held numerous important command and staff appointments.
Air Marshal Singh has commanded the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, a frontline airbase and an operational fighter squadron.
He has held the appointments of Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans), Senior Air Staff Officer at headquarters of the Eastern Air Command and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff at Air headquarters.
Prior to assuming the current appointment, he was serving as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of South Western Air Command.
Air Marshal Singh is a recipient of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Vishisht Seva Medal.