Centre appoints Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria next IAF chief

The Central government on Thursday appointed Air Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria the next chief of the India Air Force (IAF).

"Government has decided to appoint Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria, PVSM, AVSM, VM, ADC presently Vice Chief of Air Staff as the next Chief of the Air Staff," a tweet by the official Twitter handle of Principal Spokesperson, Ministry of Defence (MoD) read.

Bhadauria, who is currently Vice Chief of Air Staff, will take over the charge as the Chief of Air Staff after his predecessor and the incumbent IAF Chief BS Dhanoa retires on September 30.

Prior to being appointed the Vice Chief of Air Staff, Bhadauria was heading IAF's Bengaluru-based Training Command. As the Deputy Chief, he was the chairman of the Indian negotiating team for the 36 Rafale combat aircraft deal with France.

Bhadauria was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Air Force on June 15, 1980, with the 'Sword of Honour.'

He went on to hold several important positions such as Commandant of the National Defence Academy, Senior Air Staff Officer at the Central Air Command and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from January 2016 to February 28, 2017.

Bhadauria served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Southern Air Command from March 1, 2017. He took over as the chief of Bengaluru-based Training Command on August 1, 2018.