The next Chief of the Naval Staff will be Vice Admiral R. Hari Kumar, who is currently the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOC-in-C) of the Western Naval Command (CNS). He will take over when current Admiral Karambir Singh retires on November 30.
‘The Government has appointed Vice Admiral R. Hari Kumar presently FOC-in-C Western Naval Command as the next CNS with effect from the afternoon of November 30, 2021’, a Defence Ministry statement said.
Vice Admiral Kumar received his appointment into the Navy’s Executive Branch on January 1, 1983, after graduating from the J-61 squadron’s Course National Defence Academy in December 1981.
He has held a variety of command, staff, and instructional positions over the course of his nearly 39-year career. Coast Guard Ship C-01, INS Nishank, Missile Corvette, INS Kora, and Guided Missile Destroyer INS Ranvir are all part of Vice Admiral Kumar’s Sea Command. He was also in charge of the aircraft carrier INS Viraat. He also served as Fleet Operations Officer of the Western Fleet.
He was the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) and, in that capacity, the first Vice Chief of Defence Staff, as the position is now known, awaiting formal notification, following the establishment of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and Department of Military Affairs (DMA), where he played a key role in its setup and operationalisation.
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Command Gunnery Officer at Headquarters Western Naval Command, Naval Advisor to the Government of Seychelles, and Training Commander INS Dronacharya are among his on-shore assignments. From December 1992 to June 1993, he worked in the Civil Military Operations Centre of the UN Mission in Somalia (UNOSOM I) in Mogadishu.
He has attended the Naval War College in the United States, the Army War College in Mhow, and the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom.
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