New chief for Air Force Software Development Institute

Air Vice Marshal K N Santosh VSM has assumed charge as Commandant of the Software Development Institute (SDI), Air Force, Bengaluru.

In a three decades-long career, the Air Officer has held key staff and command appointments in the Indian Air Force, including Chief Engineer of a forward base, Director Projects (Su-30) at Air HQ, Principal Director–Operational Networks at Air HQ, and Avionics Software Specialist as part of the Su-30 Upgrade Team at the Embassy of India, Moscow.

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He is a recipient of the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2005 for his work on Su-30 Avionics and has also been conferred with the Dr V M Ghatge Award from the Aeronautical Society of India, in 2017, for his contributions in the field of avionics.

Before taking over as the SDI Commandant on July 1, he was commanding a Base Repair Depot.

The Air Vice Marshal, a computer science and engineering graduate from PES Engineering College, Mandya (University of Mysore), is an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College. A post graduate in Operations Management and Defence Studies, he has served the SDI in various capacities in 1996, 2001 and 2016.