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Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh is currently serving as Vice Chief of the Air Staff. (Image/News18)
The government has appointed Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh, PVSM, AVSM, presently serving as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, as the next Chief of the Air Staff, in the rank of Air Chief Marshal, with effect from the afternoon of September 30, the Defence Ministry said in a statement
Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh, who has over 5,000 hours of flying experience, has been appointed as the next Chief of Air Staff. He is currently serving as Vice Chief of the Air Staff. Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh will take charge as the next Chief of the Air Staff, in the rank of Air Chief Marshal from the afternoon of September 30, 2024.
“The government has appointed Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh, PVSM, AVSM, presently serving as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, as the next Chief of the Air Staff, in the rank of Air Chief Marshal, with effect from the afternoon of September 30,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The present Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari will retire from service on September 30, 2024.
Who is Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh?
Born on October 27, 1964, Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh was commissioned into the fighter pilot stream of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in December 1984. During his long and distinguished service spanning nearly 40 years, he has served in multiple Command, Staff, Instructional and Foreign appointments.
Air Marshal Amar Preet Singh is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College. He 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, 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 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 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.
(With PTI inputs)