Air Marshal Balabhadra Radha Krishna, is a retired officer of the

Indian Air Force The Indian Air Force (IAF) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the air force, air arm of the Indian Armed Forces. Its primary mission is to secure Indian airspace and to conduct aerial warfare during armed conflicts. It was officially established on 8 Octob ...

. He served as the

Chief of Integrated Defence Staff The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) is the statutory office that heads the Integrated Defence Staff (IDS), the principal inter-service syndicate of the Indian Armed Forces. Customarily held by a t ...

(the Vice Chief of Defence Staff) from 30 September 2021 till 31 March 2023. He is former Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C),

Western Air Command The Western Air Command (WAC) is the regional command of Indian Air Force headquartered in New Delhi. It is the largest and most important Air Command of the IAF, comprising sixteen Air Force Bases (AFBs), and is responsible for aerial defence of ...

. He took over the office on 1 July 2021, following the elevation of Air Marshal

Vivek Ram Chaudhari Air chief marshal (India), Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, is a retired four-star air officer of the Indian Air Force who served as the Chief of the Air Staff (India), Chief of the Air Staff. He took over as the 27th Chief of the Air St ...

. Previously, he served as the Director General Air (Operations) and prior to that he served as Senior Air Staff Officer of

South Western Air Command The South Western Air Command (SWAC) is one of the five operational commands of the Indian Air Force, headquartered in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Gandhinagar. It was raised in Jodhpur in July 1980 from the No.1 Operations Group of the Western Air Com ...

Early life and education

BR Krishna is an alumnus of

National Defence Academy The National Defence Academy (NDA) is the joint defence service training institute of the Indian Armed Forces. Here, cadets of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force train together before they go on to their respective service a ...

Defence Services Staff College The Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) is a defence service training institution of the Ministry of Defence, Government of India. It trains officers of all three services of the Indian Armed Forces – (Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air ...

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

and National Defence College.

Career

BR Krishna was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 22 December 1983. He has flying experience of nearly 5000 hours on a variety of fighter aircraft including operational, instructional and test flying. He is a qualified flying instructor and a test pilot. With a long career of 38 years, he has commanded a front-line fighter aircraft squadron, and has commanded the Airforce Test Pilot School. He was the Commandant at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment ''(ASTE)''. As Air Marshal, he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer of

and prior to his elevation as AOC-in-C, he served as the Director General Air (Operations). As Chief of the IDS, he merged the old

Amar Jawan Jyoti Amar Jawan Jyoti (, or light) is an Indian memorial conceptualised and constructed after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and inaugurated on 26 January 1972. It was the national war memorial in India until February 2019, when the new National War ...

India Gate The India Gate (formerly known as All India War Memorial) is a war memorial located near the Rajpath (officially called Kartavya Path, Kartavya path) on the eastern edge of the "ceremonial axis" of New Delhi, India, New Delhi. It stands as a m ...

with the new one at the National War Memorial on 21 January 2022.

Awards and decorations

During his career, BR Krishna for his gallant act in the air, he was awarded Shaurya Chakra in 1986 and for the distinguished service, he was awarded Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2017 and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krishna, BR Indian Air Force air marshals Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Shaurya Chakra Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal National Defence College, India alumni National Defence Academy (India) alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni