C D Balaji took charge as Director of the Aeronautical Development Agency

Commodore C D Balaji (Retd) on 3 July 2015 took charge as the Director of the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Programme Director of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA). He succeeded P S Subramanyam, Distinguished Scientist, who superannuated on 30 June 2015.

Prior to this appointment, Balaji, an outsatnding scientists, was Project Director of the LCA’s naval version. He was commissioned into the Indian Navy's engineering branch in September 1978 and since then, he has specialised in the Naval Aviation Arm.

He served as an Air Engineer Officer of INAS 310 (Alize aircraft) for about 3 years embarking the Aircraft Carrier Vikrant. He joined ADA on deputation in 2002 to work on the development of a naval version of the light fighter. In December 2006, he left the Navy and fully moved to ADA.

Balaji holds a BE in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.

Based in Bengaluru, ADA is the premier multi-agency body spearheading the development of combat aircraft for the Air Force and the Navy- among them is the LCA and the proposed Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft AMCA.

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