Air Marshal RKS Bhadauria flew his last sortie at Halwara airbase

Ludhiana (Punjab) [India], October 1 (ANI): Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria flew his last sortie on September 13 at Halwara airbase.

The aircraft belonged to 23 Squadron 'Panthers' in which he had started his flying career over 40 years ago.

Meanwhile, ace fighter pilot Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, who was in charge of the Ladakh sector during the peak of the crisis with China, took over as the Chief of Air Staff from Air Chief Marshal RKS Bhadauria on Thursday.

Bhadauria superannuated after 42 years of service and was the architect of two mega fighter aircraft deals including 36 Rafales and 83 Mark1A indigenous Tejas jets.

Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria had taken over as the 26th chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF) in September 2019.

Prior to that, 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. (ANI)