Ajay Kochhar

Vice Admiral Ajay Kochhar, AVSM, NM is a serving Flag officer in the Indian Navy. He currently serves as the Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command. He last served as the as the Commandant of the National Defence Academy. He earlier served as the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet and prior to that was the third commanding officer of the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya.

Naval career
Kochhar was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 July 1988. He is a specialist in Gunnery and Missile Warfare. He has commanded five warships of the Indian Navy. On 29 June 2013, as the commissioning commanding officer of the Talwar-class stealth guided missile frigate INS Trikand, he commissioned the ship in Kaliningrad, Russia.

On 20 July 2017, Kochhar took command of the flagship of the Indian Navy, the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya as its third commanding officer.

Flag rank
On promotion to Flag Rank, Kochhar took over as the Assistant Controller Carrier Project (ACCP) at Naval headquarters. He then served as the Assistant Controller Warship Production & Acquisition (ACWP&A). As the ACCP, he managed the construction of the indigenous aircraft carrier. In his role as ACWP&A, he oversaw all aspects related to construction and acquisition of warships for the Navy both from Indian as well as foreign shipyards.

Kochhar took command of the Western Fleet on 24 February 2021 as the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet from Rear Admiral Krishna Swaminathan. For his command of the Western fleet, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal on 26 January 2022.

On 1 April 2022, Kochhar took over as the Commandant of the National Defence Academy from Air Marshal Sanjeev Kapoor. After a two-year stint, he was appointed Chief of Staff, Western Naval Command.