Overview
- The defence ministry announced the appointment on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, and Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia will take charge as Vice Chief of the Air Staff on Sunday, November 1, 2026.
- Walia is currently the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Air Command in Shillong and brings nearly four decades of service after his commissioning into the fighter stream on June 11, 1988.
- He is a multi-platform fighter pilot qualified on MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, Jaguar and Su-30MKI aircraft and has been reported to have logged more than 3,200 hours of accident-free flying.
- His command and staff roles include leading a frontline fighter squadron, the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment (TACDE), Air Force Station Bareilly and the Directorate of Air Staff Inspection, plus defence‑attaché postings in Japan and South Korea; he received the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2018.
- The appointments follow the IAF’s customary seniority‑and‑merit practice and complete the immediate top leadership change, a shift likely to preserve fighter‑stream continuity and influence operational and training priorities under the new chief and vice chief.