Commodore Ajay Del Theophilus took over duties of Commanding Officer, INS Hansa from Commodore Hemant Padbidri on Friday.
Commodore Theophilus, is an alumnus of Naval Academy, commissioned into the Indian Navy on 01 July 1991. An accomplished Fighter Pilot and a Qualified Flying Instructor with more than 3000 hours of flying experience on varied aircraft, he was the first Commanding Officer of Naval Air Squadron INAS 303.
He was also the first Indian pilot to land the MiG-29K aircraft on the Aircraft Carrier INS Vikramaditya. The officer has also commanded frontline warships INS Sukanya, INS Talwar and INS Tarkash. Prior to the present appointment, the Commodore was heading the Directorate of Air Warfare and Flight Safety at Naval Headquarters.
( With inputs from ANI )