Vice Chief of the Air Staff (India)
The Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) a PSO (Principal Staff Officer) at Air Headquarters at New Delhi, who is second in command of the Indian Air Force. He is responsible for operation and flying related tasks. He enjoys the equal status of Commander-in-Chief of an Indian Air Force Command. [1] As of 2013 the post was held by Air Marshal Arup Raha.Air Marshal Ravi Kant Sharma has taken over as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) He succeeds Air Marshal Arup Raha, who has taken over the command of the Indian Air Force as Air Chief Marshal. As Vice Chief, Air Marshal Sharma will directly be in charge of IAF’s ongoing capability buildup and visualizing its future technology requirements. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, Air Marshal Sharma was commissioned into the Fighter stream of the IAF in June 1975. A Qualified Flying Instructor, he is an Experimental Test pilot who has flown around 3,300 hrs, on several different types of aircraft including the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC), Wellington, he has commanded the Test Pilot School and Prototype Test Squadron at Aircraft System Testing Establishment (ASTE), Bangalore and a premier airbase in the South-Western Sector. He has also functioned as the Project Director (Flight Test) of the ongoing LCA Project, Assistant Chief of the Integrated Defence Staff (Financial Planning) at HQ IDS, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans) at Air HQ, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS) prior to assuming the command of the Shillong based Eastern Air Command.He has been awarded with ‘Ati Vishisht Seva Medal’ (AVSM) and ‘Vayu Sena Medal’ (VM) and has also been commended by the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) twice. He is married to Dr Chitralekha Khati Sharma, a retired Wing Commander, and a Medical Specialist of IAF. They have one son.