Narmdeshwar Tiwari

Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari, SYSM, PVSM, AVSM, VM is an officer of the Indian Air Force. He is currently serving as the 49th Vice Chief of the Air Staff.^[2] He was previously serving as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command,^[3] prior to that he was Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.

The Air officer was born in Siakalpur, Siwan, Bihar.^[4] He is an alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Air Force Academy. In National Defence Academy, he was awarded the President's Gold Medal. The Air marshal is also an alumnus of the National Defence College, New Delhi and the Air Command and Staff College, USA.^[5][6]

He was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 7 Jun 1986 from the Air Force Academy. In a career spanning over 37 years, he has more than 3,600 hours of flying experience across various fighter jets.^[7] He is a qualified flying instructor and experimental test pilot and has extensive weapons testing experience primarily on Mirage 2000. He played a key role in operationalising the ‘Litening’ laser designation pod during the Kargil Operations in 1999. As a Wing Commander, he served as the commanding officer of No. 1 Squadron and has been instrumental in test flying HAL Tejas. Upon his promotion to the rank of Group Captain, the air officer served as the chief test pilot at Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) and was instrumental in flight testing various aircraft of the Indian Air Force including HAL Tejas.

On getting promoted as Air Commodore, he served as the Air Attaché at the Embassy of India in France and later served as the Air Officer Commanding of 32 Wing at the Jodhpur sector in the South Western Air Command.

As Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Project Director at National Flight Test Center, Aeronautical Development Agency at Bangalore. Later, he served as the Assistance Chief of Air Staff (Projects) and Assistance Chief of Air Staff (Plans), spearheading the acquisition and plans for the Indian Air Force.^[8]

After his promotion to the rank of Air Marshal, on 1 October 2021 the Air officer took over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff at the Air Headquarters, New Delhi. On 1 May 2023, Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command succeeding Air Marshal Vikram Singh.^[9]

On 2 May 2025, Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari took over as the 49th Vice Chief of the Air Staff succeeding Air Marshal Sujeet Pushpakar Dharkar, who superannuated on 30 April 2025.^[10]

During his career, the air marshal has been awarded the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal on Independence Day 2025,^[11] the Param Vishisht Seva Medal on Republic Day 2025,^[12] the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2022 ^[13] and the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008 for his service.^[6]