Rear Admiral Rear admiral is a flag officer rank used by English-speaking navies. In most European navies, the equivalent rank is called counter admiral. Rear admiral is usually immediately senior to commodore and immediately below vice admiral. It is ...

Vikram Menon, VSM is a serving flag officer of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

. He currently serves as the

Joint Secretary to the Government of India Joint Secretary to the Government of India (often abbreviated as JS, GoI or Union Joint Secretary or Joint Secretary to Union of India) is a post under the Central Staffing Scheme and the third highest non-political executive rank in the Govern ...

(Navy & Defence Staff) at the

Department of Military Affairs Department of Military Affairs (DMA) is the department in charge of military matters within the Indian Ministry of Defence. Headed by the Chief of Defence Staff, as its ''ex-officio'' secretary, the DMA provides integration between the Indian ...

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

. He previously served as the Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA) and

Flag Officer Commanding Goa Naval Area Flag Officer Commanding Goa Naval Area (FOGA) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. One of the five Area Commanders of the Indian Navy, the FOGA is a Two-star rank, two star admiral holding the rank of Rear admiral (India), Rear Admiral. The ...

(FOGA), and as the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Air) at Naval headquarters. All important Notices related to Military Affairs are released under his surveillance.

Naval career

Menon graduated from 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 ...

and was commissioned into the

on 1 January 1990. He trained as a

Naval aviator Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use. Seaborne aviation encompas ...

. He qualified as a

fighter pilot A fighter pilot or combat pilot is a Military aviation, military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, Air-to-ground weaponry, air-to-ground combat and sometimes Electronic-warfare aircraft, electronic warfare while in the cockpit of ...

on the

British Aerospace Sea Harrier The British Aerospace Sea Harrier is a naval short take-off and vertical landing/ vertical take-off and landing jet fighter, reconnaissance and attack aircraft. It is the second member of the Harrier family developed. It first entered serv ...

. He has over 2000 hours of flying experience and became a

Qualified Flying Instructor A Qualified Flying Instructor is someone who is qualified to conduct flight training for pilots. They may also have other roles in aviation, such as aircraft certification and flight reviews, depending on the jurisdiction. Every country has its own ...

(QFI). He was a senior pilot in INAS 300, the longest serving combat unit of the Indian Navy. He has flown the Sea Harrier extensively from the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...

Menon commanded the

Trinkat-class patrol vessel The ''Trinkat''-class patrol vessels of the Indian Navy were designed and constructed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers. Role The patrol vessels carry out fisheries protection, anti-poaching, counter-insurgency and search-and-rescue o ...

and the Sukanya-class patrol vessel . He also commanded the Naval Flight Test Squadron INAS 552. As a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

, he commanded the Deepak-class

fleet tanker A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. T ...

. He was in command of INS Shakti during the International Fleet Review 2016 at

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

. As part of the

Eastern Fleet Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

in 2015, ''INS Shakti'', under his command, visited Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia and Australia as part of India's Act East policy. He also served as the

executive officer An executive officer is a person who is principally responsible for leading all or part of an organization, although the exact nature of the role varies depending on the organization. In many militaries and police forces, an executive officer ...

of the Rajput-class

Guided-missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers which have a pr ...

. He subsequently attended the Higher Naval Command course at the

Naval War College, Goa The Naval War College (NWC) is a premier training institution of the Indian Navy, located in Goa. The college aims at developing leadership qualities of the officers of the Indian Armed Forces at the strategic and operational level. It is one of th ...

. Menon then served as the Director of Aircraft Acquisition at Naval Headquarters. Promoted to the rank of

commodore Commodore may refer to: Ranks * Commodore (rank), a naval rank ** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom ** Commodore (India), in India ** Commodore (United States) ** Commodore (Canada) ** Commodore (Finland) ** Commodore (Germany) or ' ...

, Menon took over as

Commanding officer The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually give ...

(CO) of the

Naval air station A Naval Air Station (NAS) is a military air base, and consists of a permanent land-based operations locations for the military aviation division of the relevant branch of a navy (Naval aviation). These bases are typically populated by squadron ...

INS Hansa INS Hansa, is an Indian naval air station located near Dabolim in Goa, India. Data current as of October 2006. It is India's biggest naval airbase. The military air base has a civil enclave, that operates as Dabolim Airport. History ''INS ...

in Goa. For his tenure as CO INS Hansa, he was awarded the

Vishisht Seva Medal The Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM, ) is a decoration of the Indian Armed Forces. It is awarded to recognize "distinguished service of a high order" to all ranks of the Indian Armed Forces. From 1980, the Yudh Seva Medal was introduced to recognize ex ...

on 26 January 2018. He subsequently served as the Chief Staff Officer (Air) at Headquarters Naval Aviation to the then FONA Rear Admiral P. G. Pynumootil.

Flag rank

Menon was promoted to flag rank and appointed Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Air) at Naval Headquarters. On 30 April 2022, he was appointed Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA). During this tenure, he also dual-hatted as the

(FOGA). He took over as FOGA/FONA from Rear Admiral Philipose George Pynumootil. After about one-and-a-half years as FOGA/FONA, Menon was appointed Joint Secretary (Navy & Defence Staff) at the

Awards and decorations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Vikram Indian Navy rear admirals National Defence Academy (India) alumni Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Indian naval aviators Recipients of the Vishisht Seva Medal Naval War College, Goa alumni