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Vice Admiral B Sivakumar, AVSM, VSM has assumed charge as the 40th Chief of Materiel on 01 Nov 2025. He is an alumnus of 70th Course, NDA and was commissioned as an Electrical Officer into the Indian Navy on 01 Jul 1987. The Flag Officer holds Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineering from IIT Chennai, is a post graduate in Higher Defence Management from Osmania University, MPhil from Madras University and is an alumnus of National Defence College. During his distinguished and illustrious service of over 38 years, the Flag Officer has held various key appointments in the Naval Headquarters, HQ ATVP, Naval Dockyards and Command Headquarters. He has served onboard frontline warships, Indian navy Ships Ranjit, Kirpan and Akshay and has commanded the premier Electrical Training Base, INS Valsura.

The Admiral holds the rare distinction of being at the helm of affairs of both the key Electrical Directorates of Weapons Equipment and Electrical Engineering at NHQ and has served in both Naval Dockyards in East and West coasts. He has deep experience in many diverse fields, in technologies, projects, as well as Technical Administration. As a Flag Officer, he has served as Additional Director General (Tech) Project Seabird, Chief Staff Officer (Tech) at HQWNC and Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. On completion of his tenure as the Assistant Chief of Materiel (Information Technology & Systems) at Naval Headquarters, he was promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral and appointed as Programme Director, HQ ATVP followed by Controller of Warship Production & Acquisition and Director General Naval Projects at Visakhapatnam. In recognition of his distinguished service, the Admiral has been awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal and Ati Vishisht Seva Medal.

Vice Admiral B Sivakumar, AVSM, VSM takes over as Chief of Materiel from Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh, AVSM, VSM who hands over the baton on completion of over 39 years of glorious service. Well known as distinguished leader and a thorough professional Flag Officer of the Indian Navy, Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh had displayed a fine combination of professional excellence and leadership to steer the Navy technically towards being future ready and ensuring that Indian Naval Platforms are combat worthy and capable of undertaking full spectrum of operations.  The highest readiness of Naval Assets during Operation Sindoor over prolonged deployment, is a testimony to his foresight, planning and leadership.

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VM/SKY    

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