Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria takes over as the 26th IAF Chief

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria takes over as the 26th IAF Chief

Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria takes over as the 26th IAF Chief

Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC took over as the 26th Chief of the Air Staff at a ceremony held at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan).

He succeeds Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa, who retired after 41 years of service in the IAF.

RKS Bhadauria was appointed as the next chief of IAF by the Union Government on September 19, 2019.

Air Marshal Bhadauria was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in June 1980, and has held various command, staff and instructional positions.

An alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, he graduated from the Air Force Academy with the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ and was commissioned in the fighter stream of IAF on 15 June 1980.

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He has over 4270 hours of experience on twenty seven types of fighters as well as transport aircraft and holds the unique distinction of being an Experimental Test Pilot, a Cat 'A' Qualified Flying Instructor and a Pilot Attack Instructor.

He completed his Masters in Defence Studies from Command and Staff College, Bangladesh.

He has several important positions in the IAF such as Commandant at National Defence Academy, Senior Air Staff Officer at the Central Air Command and Vice Chief of Air Staff from January 2016 to February 28, 2017.

He devised a method for carrying bombing from the Jaguar aircraft using the Global Positioning System (GPS). This was especially relevant for the bombing role of Jaguar aircraft in Operation Safed Sagar in 1999.

Bhadauria is one of the few Air Force pilots to fly a Rafale jet. In July, during Exercise Garuda between the Air Forces of India and France, Bhadauria had flown the Rafale aircraft.