Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

Sunil Lanba,

PVSM Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) is a Military awards and decorations, military award of India. It is the highest peacetime medal of the Indian Armed Forces, and is awarded for "dist ...

AVSM Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM, ) is a military award of India given to recognize "distinguished service of an exceptional order" to all ranks of the armed forces. The award is a peacetime equivalent of Uttam Yuddh Seva Medal, which is a Wartime ...

, PJG, ADC (born 17 July 1957) is a retired Indian naval officer who served as the 23rd Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy. He assumed the office on 31 May 2016 after Admiral Robin K. Dhowan and demitted office three years later on 31 May 2019. During this time, he also served as

Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee The Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) is an administrative forum of the senior-most military leaders of the Indian Armed Forces, which advises the Government of India on all military and strategic matters deemed privy to military coordination, ...

and Honorary Aide-de-Camp to the

President of India The president of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, and the commander-in-chief, supreme commander of the Indian Armed ...

Early life and education

Lanba was born on 17 July 1957 and hails from

Palwal district Palwal district was created on 15 August 2008. It is the 21st district of Haryana state in Delhi NCR region of northern India. Palwal City is the headquarters of the district. It is part of the Braj region. The city is situated from Delhi, ...

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

. He attended Mayo College,

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

;

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 ...

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

;

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;

College of Defence Management The College of Defence Management (CDM) is an Indian defence service training institution imparting management training to defence servants. CDM is entrusted with the responsibility of instilling contemporary management thoughts, concepts a ...

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

and

Royal College of Defence Studies The Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) instructs the most promising senior officers of the British Armed Forces, His Majesty's Diplomatic Service and Civil Service in national defence and international security matters at the highest leve ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, and is a post-graduate in Defence and Management studies.

Military career

Lanba was commissioned into the Indian Navy as an officer on 1 January 1978 into the Executive Branch of Indian Navy. He is a Navigation and Direction specialist who has served as the navigation and operations officer onboard various ships in both the Eastern and Western Fleets. He, over four decades, has served as a navigation officer on board and before serving as the commanding officer (CO) of various ships: minesweeper INS ''Kakinada'', frigate , and . Promoted to substantive captain on 1 January 2000, he also served as executive officer of aircraft carrier and the Fleet Operations Officer of the Western Fleet. He has also held numerous training positions like training officer at the

; Directing Staff at the

; Commandant of the National Defence College and Flag Officer Sea Training organisation at the Local Workup Team (West), Western Naval Command.

Flag rank

Lanba on being elevated to flag rank, was the Flag Officer Commanding Maharashtra and Gujarat Naval Area (FOMAG) and Chief of Staff,

Southern Naval Command The Southern Naval Command is one of the three, command-level formations of the Indian Navy. Southern Naval Command is the largest naval command in India and it has its headquarters in Kochi, Kerala at INS Venduruthy. It is the Training Comman ...

. On being promoted to vice admiral, he was the Chief of Staff, Eastern Naval Command; Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern and Western Naval Commands; Fleet Oper and the Vice Chief of Naval Staff from 2 June 2014 to 30 March 2015. On 5 May 2016, the Union Government announced that Lanba will take charge as the Chief of the Naval Staff on 31 May 2016, replacing Admiral Robin K. Dhowan who retired the same day. He took over as the chairman of the chiefs of staff committee (CoSC) from outgoing IAF chief Marshal Arup Raha on 29 December 2016.

Bilateral visits as CNS

Awards and decorations

He was awarded the Pingat Jasa Gemilang (Tentera), Meritorious Service Medal (Military) of Singapore on 8 September 2022. He was awarded for his outstanding contributions in enhancing the strong and long-standing bilateral defence relationship between the Indian Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy. Admiral Lanba became the first Indian to receive this award.

Personal life

He is married to Reena Lanba who is a qualified teacher and a home-maker. They have two daughters, named Moneesha and Sukriti, and a son named Adhiraj.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanba, Sunil Indian Navy admirals Commandants of National Defence College, India Flag Officers Sea Training Living people Recipients of the Param Vishisht Seva Medal Recipients of the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal Mayo College alumni Chiefs of the Naval Staff (India) Vice chiefs of Naval Staff (India) 1957 births National Defence Academy (India) alumni College of Defence Management alumni Defence Services Staff College alumni Flag Officers Commanding Maharashtra Naval Area