Bhadauria is new Air Force chief

New Delhi: Narendra Modi government on Thursday followed seniority principle in the Air Force by appointing Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria as the next chief of Indian Air Force (IAF).

In both Army and Navy, senior-most officers in contention for the post of chiefs were superseded by their junior officers.

Air Marshal Bhadauria was supposed to retire on the same day as current Air Force Chief B.S. Dhanoa on 30th September 2019. Now, he will have two-year more tenure, as armed force chiefs can serve for three years or up to the age of 62, whichever is earlier.

There is a past precedent to this when Air Marshal N.C. Suri had become the Chief of Air Staff after Air Chief Marshal S.K. Mehra, though both were to retire on the same day which was 31 July 1991. “Government has decided to appoint Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria presently Vice Chief of Air Staff as the next Chief of the Air Staff after the retirement of Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa on 30th September 2019,” said a government statement.

Gen. Bipin Rawat was appointed by Modi government as Army Chief in December 2016, by superseding two officers senior to him. In second supersession Admiral Karambir Singh was appointed as Navy chief this year by superseding  Vice Admiral Bimal Verma, who was around six months senior to him.

However, in the Indian Air Force (IAF) vice-chief is the second in command and deals with the operational issues. Air Marshal Bhadauria had been Chief Test Pilot and Project Director of National Flight Test Centre on Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas project. IAF is currently in the process of inducting Tejas aircraft.

Incidentally, defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday flew in the Tejas fighter aircraft from the  Hindustan Aeronautics Limited airport in Bengaluru.