Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA) is a senior appointment in the Indian Navy. A two star admiral holding the rank of Rear Admiral, the FONA is the class authority for all aviation matters an is responsible for all aviation training and maintenance activity. Since 1987, the billet has been dual-hatted by the Flag Officer Commanding Goa Naval Area (FOGA). The current FONA is Rear Admiral Ajay D. Theophilus, who assumed office on 1 August 2023.

History After the Liberation of Goa and its absorption into the Indian Union in 1961, a naval detachment was established at Vasco in January 1962. This detachment grew and was commissioned as INS Gomantak in March 1964. In June that year, the naval air station INS Hansa moved from Sulur to Dabolim. With the development of establishments and naval infrastructure, the post of Naval Officer-in-Charge Goa (NOIC Goa) was created.

In 1977, the appointment of NOIC Goa was upgraded to Rear Admiral and re-designated Flag Officer Commanding Goa Naval Area (FOGA). Rear Admiral R. H. Tahiliani, AVSM took over as the first FOGA on 30 December 1977.

In 1986, it was proposed to rationalise the command and control of the naval air arm by creating the appointment of Flag Officer Naval Aviation (FONA). The FONA would be responsible for all aviation training and maintenance activity and act as the class authority for all aviation matters. The operational deployment of all aviation units would continue to be controlled and directed by the respective commanders-in-chief. With Goa being the home of the naval air arm, FOGA was the natural choice to also serve as the FONA. In March 1986, the serving FOGA Rear Admiral R. V. Singh assumed the appointment of FONA as well. Since then the FOGA has dual-hatted as the FONA.

List of Commanders S.No. Name Assumed office Left office Notes1Rear Admiral R. V. Singh 4 March 198631 December 19872Rear Admiral S. Ramsagar 11 June 198827 December 19893Rear Admiral P. A. Debrass 27 December 198930 November 19934Rear Admiral Vinod Pasricha 27 December 19934 January 1995Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command and Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command.5Rear Admiral Sureesh Mehta 4 January 19959 May 1997Later Chief of the Naval Staff.6Rear Admiral K. V. Bharathan 10 May 19976 November 1998Later Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.7Rear Admiral Yashwant Prasad 6 November 199816 July 1999Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command and Vice Chief of the Naval Staff.8Rear Admiral K. Mohanan16 July 199928 September 20019Rear Admiral S. K. Damle 28 September 200116 April 2004Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command.10Rear Admiral Shekhar Sinha 16 April 200423 February 2006Later Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command11Rear Admiral S. M. Vadgaokar 23 February 200628 January 200912Rear Admiral Sudhir Pillai 29 January 200927 May 201213Rear Admiral Balvinder Singh Parhar 28 May 201226 March 201514Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh 27 March 20155 October 2015Later Deputy Chief of the Naval Staff.15Rear Admiral Puneet Kumar Bahl 6 October 20159 February 2018Later Commandant of Indian Naval Academy.16Rear Admiral Philipose George Pynumootil 10 February 201830 April 202217Rear Admiral Vikram Menon 1 May 202231 July 2023Current Joint Secretary (Navy & Defence Staff) at the Department of Military Affairs.18Rear Admiral Ajay D. Theophilus1 August 2023PresentCurrent FONA.

See also Indian Naval Air Arm

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