Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in December 1981 and has a vast experience of operational flying on modern and legacy fighters in the IAF inventory

New Delhi: Air Marshal Harjit Singh Arora on Tuesday took charge as Vice Chief of the Air Staff.

He succeeds Air Chief Marshal R K S Bhadauria who became Chief of Air Staff on Monday.

Air Marshal Arora was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in December 1981 and has a vast experience of operational flying on modern and legacy fighters in the IAF inventory.

Before taking over as Vice Chief of the IAF, he was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of the South Western Air Command at Gandhinagar.

Air Marshal Arora has held various key positions at the IAF, including posts of director general (inspection and safety) and director general of air operations.

He has rich experience of operational flying which includes MiG-21, MiG-29 and helicopters.

The officer has commanded a MiG 21 squadron in the South Western sector and went on to command a premier MiG-29 base.

For his distinguished service, Air Marshal Arora was awarded 'Ati Vishisht Seva Medal'.