Air Marshal AP Singh Takes Over As New Air Force Chief

Air Marshal AP Singh succeeded Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari as the new Air Force chief today. Before assuming the charge, he served as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff since February 2023.

Born on October 27, 1964, Mr Singh was commissioned into the fighter pilot stream of the Air Force in 1984. During a service spanning nearly 40 years, he has served in a variety of Command, Staff, Instructional and Foreign appointments.

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.

During his career, he has also commanded an operational fighter squadron and a frontline air base.

As a test pilot, he led the MiG-29 Upgrade Project Management Team in Moscow, Russia. 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.

He has held important staff appointments of 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.

He is also a recipient of the "Param Vishisht Seva" Medal and the "Ati Vishisht Seva" Medal.