Major reshuffle at higher echelons of Indian armed forces

NEW DELHI: The three wings of the armed forces—Army, Navy and Air Force—are set to have a number of new faces at the top reaches, including a new deputy chief in the Navy, two new commanders in the Army. Vice Admiral M S Pawar, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS) superannuated on Monday after 39 years of service. Vice Admiral Ravneet Singh, who was serving as the Chief of Personnel of the Navy, will be the new DCNS.

Vice Admiral Pawar has an extraordinary 25 years of sea-going service which otherwise remains between 17-20 years. Navy also will get a new Chief of Materiel as Vice Admiral Sandeep Naithani, Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition (CWP&A) will replace Vice Admiral S R Sarma, who retired on Monday. 

Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh will be the new CWP&A. Vice Admiral DK Tripathi will be the new Chief of Personnel.

Of the Seven Army Commands, two Commands will get new Army Commanders. With Lieutenant General Anil Chauhan, Eastern Army Commander, retiring on Monday his post will be taken over by Lt Gen MK Pandey, who till now has been the Commander of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. Lt Gen Ajai Singh will assume the Command of the Crucial Andaman and Nicobar Command.

In the Air Force, Air Marshal Amit Tiwari superannuated from the position of the Commander in Chief, Central Air Command (CAC). Air Marshal Richard John Duckworth the current Air Officer in charge Personnel will be the next CAC Commander.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Monday approved the ‘Second Positive Indigenisation List’ of 108 items of ammunition, equipment and systems to boost indigenisation of defence production.

The second list puts focus on weapons/systems which are currently under development/trials and are likely to translate into firm orders in the future.

The list includes helicopters, next-generation corvettes, Air Borne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) systems, tank engines, medium-power radar for mountains etc, according to the MoD.