New Delhi : Former Air Force vice chief and ace fighter pilot, Air Marshal Sandeep Singh, has been appointed the new Military Advisor to National Security Council. He succeeds General Anil Chauhan, who was appointed as the Chief of Defence Staff in October, last year.
“Air Marshal Singh (Retd) has been appointed as the new Military Adviser in the National Security Council Secretariat,” an NSCS official said. The officer is expected to take over his new appointment on April 24, said officials.
The officials informed further that Singh retired from IAF on January 31 after a long tenure and is known for his active role in the modernisation of the IAF. He was commissioned into the IAF as a fighter pilot on December 22, 1983. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy and National Defence College, he is an Experimental Test Pilot and Cat ‘A’ Qualified Flying Instructor, officials said.
He has flown several aircraft and has nearly 4900 hours of operational and test flying experience on Su-30 MKI, MiG-29, MiG-21, Kiran, AN-32, AVRO, Jaguar and Mirage 2000. He has played a key role in the induction, production and weaponization of the Su-30 MKI aircraft in India, the NSCS officials said.
He held several important field assignments in his career including Project Test Pilot of the Su-30 Project Team at Moscow, Commanding Officer of a frontline Su-30MKI Sqn, Chief Test Pilot at ASTE, Commander of two Flying Bases, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans), Commandant ASTE, Senior Air Staff Officer of Eastern Air Command and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff. He was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of South Western Air Command before taking over as the VCAS, as informed by the officials.