Air Chief Marshal VR Choudhary was appointed as the new Air Chief, replacing RKS Bhadauria

Air Chief Marshal VR Choudhary has become the new chief of the Indian Air Force. He has replaced RKS Bhadauria. Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Choudhary who was in charge of the Ladakh sector during the peak of the crisis with China took over as the new Air Force chief from Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Thursday. Outgoing Air Force Chief RKS Bhadauria retired from the Air Force today. Ahead of his retirement, the outgoing Air Force Chief paid tributes at the National War Memorial in Delhi today.

RKS Bhadauria has retired after 42 years of service. During this time he played a key role in two mega fighter aircraft deals including 36 Rafale and 83 Mark 1A indigenous Tejas jets.

His career began with the ‘Panthers’ squad flying the MiG-21 and then ended at the same airbase and with the same squadron. Former Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria made his last flight in a fighter aircraft as Chief of Air Staff at 23 Sq, Halwara on 13 September.

Air Chief Marshal Bhadauria took over as the Chief of the Air Staff in September 2019. Bhadauria was inducted into the combat wing of the Indian Air Force in June 1980 and held several positions. Bhadauria, an alumnus of the National Defense Academy, also won the prestigious ‘Sword of Honour’ award for the best performance. During nearly four decades of service, Bhadauria led a Jaguar squadron and a major Air Force station. Apart from this, he invented a way to bomb Jaguar aircraft using GPS. This is particularly related to the role in the Jaguar aircraft bombing in ‘Operation Safed Sagar’ in the year 1999.

Who is VR Choudhary?

VR Choudhary joined the Indian Air Force in 1982 and belongs to the fighter-stream> He has been a pilot of the MiG-29 fighter jet and has held several command and staff appointments in a career spanning over 39 years. He was earlier posted as the co-chief of the Air Force. Earlier, he had also served as an instructor in the Air Force Academy.