Vice Chief of the Air Staff (India)
| Vice Chief of the Air Staff | |
|---|---|
since 1 January 2026 | |
| Indian Air Force | |
| Status | Second in Command |
| Abbreviation | VCAS |
| Reports to | Chief of the Air Staff |
| Seat | Air Headquarters, New Delhi |
| Appointer | ACC |
| Constituting instrument | Air Forces Act, 1952 (62 of 1952) |
| Formation | 1 January 1963 |
| First holder | Atma Ram Nanda |
| Deputy | Deputy Chief of the Air Staff |
The Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) is a statutory office held by the second-highest ranking officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF). Customarily held by a three-star air marshal, the VCAS is the senior most Principal Staff Officer (PSO) to the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) - the professional head of the IAF. By duty, the VCAS has dual roles: in wartime, to oversee operational planning, capability build-up and force deployment during wartime; in peacetime, to act as an understudy to the CAS during peacetime.
The present VCAS is Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor who assumed the office on 1 January 2026.