Air Vice Chief Air Marshal AP Singh will be the next Chief of Air Staff on September 30. He will replace present Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari.
Born on October 27, 1964, Air Marshal AP Singh was commissioned into the fighter pilot stream of the Indian Air Force in December 1984. During his long and distinguished service spanning nearly 40 years, he has served in a variety of command, staff, instructional and foreign appointments, said the Ministry of Defence while announcing the government decision on Saturday.
The Vice Chief of Air Staff is known to hold his views on key issues. In July, he had publicly said self-reliance or atmanirbharta cannot be achieved at the cost of national security. This was in the backdrop of the IAF struggling to achieve its fleet strength due to ageing fighter aircraft and defence PSU HAL’s inability to meet the deadline for acquiring Tejas MK-IAs and other versions to remain competitive edge against adversaries.
Incidentally, he was also the Project Director (Flight Test) at the National Flight Test Centre and was tasked with flight testing of the Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas.
“During his career, the officer has commanded an operational fighter squadron and a frontline air base. As a test pilot, he led the MiG-29 Upgrade Project Management Team at Moscow, Russia,” the Ministry informed.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College, the Air Officer is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot with more than 5,000 hours of flying experience on a variety of fixed and rotary wing aircraft, stated the Ministry of Defence.
He has held important staff appointments as Air Defence Commander at South Western Air Command and Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command. Prior to assuming the charge of Vice Chief of the Air Staff, he was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command.
