Air Marshal Browne to be next IAF chief

Air Marshal N A K Browne, an ace MiG-21 and Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter pilot, will be the next chief of Indian Air Force.

59-year-old Browne, vice chief of IAF, will take over from Air Chief Marshal P V Naik when he retires in July this year.

"The Appointments Committee of Cabinet recently cleared Air Marshal Brownes name as the next head of the IAF," Air Force officials said in New Delhi.

An alumnus of National Defence Academy, Browne was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on June 24, 1972.

Besides MiG-21, Jaguars and Sukhoi-30 MKI, he has flown the vintage fighter Hunters and subsequently commanded a Jaguar Squadron.

He has logged in almost 3100 hours of flying. Before taking over as the Vice chief of the Air Staff in January 2011, he was the AOC-in-C of Western Air Command, IAF's most vital operational command.

Browne also did a training stint with the Royal Air Force in the United Kingdom and the Air Command and Staff College, Alabama, USA.

He served as an instructor at the Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment and the Tri-services Defence Services Staff College in Wellington.

During his 38-year-long career, he has also served as Joint Director at Air War Strategy Cell at Air Headquarters, Chief Operations Officer and Air Officer Commanding of a SU-30 base.

His other important assignments are as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (intelligence) at Air Headquarters.

He was also responsible for establishing the Indian Defence Wing in Tel Aviv, Israel in April 1997 where he served as the defence attache till July 2000.

Under his command, the first landing of an AN-32 transport aircraft took place at Nyoma Advance Landing Ground, located at an altitude of 13,300 feet in Leh, in September 2009.