New Delhi, Aug 1 : Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, a gunnery and missile systems specialist, on Friday assumed charge as the 47th Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.
Prior to assuming his new charge, Vice Admiral Vatsayan held various important operational, staff and training appointments, including at the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), and Naval Headquarters (NHQ) in New Delhi.
“Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, AVSM, NM, assumed charge as the 47th Vice Chief of Naval Staff #VCNS on 01 Aug 2025,” the Navy posted on X.
Commissioned into the Indian Navy on January 1, 1988, the Flag Officer is a gunnery and missile systems specialist, it said.
“He held various important operational, staff and training appointments including DCIDS (Policy, Plans and Force Development) and DCIDS Ops at @HQ_IDS_India, Chief of Staff @IN_HQENC, Deputy Commandant of the National Defence Academy, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet and ACNS Policy and Plans at #NHQ,” the Navy posted.
An alumnus of the 71st course at the National Defence Academy, Pune, Vice Admiral Vatsayan was commissioned into the Indian Navy on January 1, 1988.
He has held a wide range of command, operational and staff assignments over his distinguished naval career spanning more than three decades.
At sea, the flag officer has served onboard various frontline warships, including as the commissioning crew of the guided missile destroyer INS Mysore, INS Nishank and pre-commissioning crew of Coast Guard OPV ICGS Sangram, the defence ministry said in a statement.
He also served as the executive officer of INS Mysore, besides commanding the Coast Guard ship C-05, missile vessels INS Vibhuti and INS Nashak, missile corvette INS Kuthar and guided missile frigate INS Sahyadri (commissioning commanding officer), it said.
In February 2020, he took over as the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet, and led numerous operational deployments and exercises during heightened maritime activity post the events at Galwan, the statement said.
A graduate of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Naval War College, Goa, and the prestigious National Defence College, New Delhi, the Flag Officer has also excelled in key strategic and policy-oriented staff roles.
He succeeded Vice Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, who on Thursday assumed charge as the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief (FOCinC), Western Naval Command (WNC), taking over from Vice Admiral Sanjay J Singh at a ceremonial parade held at INS Shikra.
On assuming charge as the FOCinC, Vice Admiral Swaminathan paid homage to the bravehearts who made the supreme sacrifice in service to the nation at the Gaurav Stambh, naval dockyard, Mumbai, officials said.
Commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1987, the Flag Officer is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Joint Services Command and Staff College, Shrivenham, the UK, the College of Naval Warfare, Karanja, and the United States Naval War College, Newport.
He held several key operational, staff and training appointments in his naval career, including the command of missile vessels INS Vidyut and INS Vinash, missile corvette INS Kulish, guided missile destroyer INS Mysore, and aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, the Navy said.
In a post on X, the HQ IDS said Vice Admiral Vineet McCarty assumed charge as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (policy planning and force development) on Friday, after relinquishing the coveted appointment of Controller Personnel Services, Naval HQ.
“His appointment ensures continuity in #TriServices coordination, strategic policy formulation and force development initiatives critical to India’s evolving defence architecture,” it said.
In another statement on Friday, the defence ministry said Vice Admiral C R Praveen Nair assumed charge as the Controller Personnel Services (CPS) on July 31.
On assuming charge, the flag officer paid homage at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.
Vice Admiral Nair was commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1991. A surface warfare officer, he is a specialist in communications and electronic warfare, and has held a wide range of command, operational and staff appointments over his distinguished naval career spanning more than three decades, it said.
The Flag Officer’s specialist tenures were on board INS Krishna, Kora and Mysore. He served as Fleet Electronic Warfare Officer and thereafter as the Fleet Communications Officer of the Western Fleet, the statement said.
“As Fleet Communication Officer, he was awarded the Chief of the Naval Staff commendation for his role in the non-combatant evacuation of Indian nationals from Beirut during the Israel-Lebanon war in July 2006. He was also the Fleet Operations Officer of the Eastern Fleet in 2018-2019,” it said.
The officer commanded the Western Fleet — the Sword Arm of the Indian Navy in 2023-24 — where he spearheaded Operation Sankalp.
Prior to taking over as CPS, he was the Commandant, Indian Naval Academy, the ministry said. (PTI)
