Captain Puneet Chadha takes over as 22nd Commanding Officer of INS Viraat

NEW DELHI: Captain Puneet Chadha on Friday took over as the 22nd Commanding Officer of INS Viraat from Captain Rajesh Pendharkar. Captain Chadha, who is an aluminus of the National Defence Academy, was commissioned in the Indian Navy on July 1, 1987.

He has also commanded missile vessel Vibhuti, diving support and submarine rescue ship Nireekshak and the destroyer Ranjit and also been the Fleet operations officer (FOO) of the Eastern fleet.

Captain Chadha is an anti submarine warfare (ASW) specialist and has undergone the Malaysian armed forces staff college, naval higher command course (NHCC) and the national defence college (NDC) course.

He was the principal director staff requirement (PDSR) at naval headquarters prior to this appointment.

HMS Hermes, now known as INS Viraat saw service with the Royal Navy from 1959 to 1984 where she distinguished herself as the flagship of the Navy in the 1982 Falkland campaign. She was commissioned into the Indian Navy as INS Viraat on May 12, 1987 and had been the Indian Navy flagship since then.