Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan took over as the 47th Vice Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy on Friday, 1 August 2025. After assuming charge, he paid tribute to the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the service of the nation by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial in New Delhi. He was later given a Guard of Honour at the South Block Lawns. Gunnery and missile systems specialist Sanjay Vatsayan has held a variety of command, operational and staff responsibilities in his naval career spanning over three decades.
An illustrious career of 37 years
Commissioned into the Indian Navy on 1 January 1988, Vice Admiral Vatsayan is an alumnus of the 71st Course of the National Defence Academy (NDA), Pune. An expert in Gunnery and Missile Systems, he has held various important Operational, Command and Staff assignments in his career spanning over three decades.
Notable service aboard warships
Vice Admiral Vatsayan served on the commissioning crew of guided missile destroyers INS Mysore and INS Nishank, pre-commissioning crew of Coast Guard OPV CGS Sangram, and as Executive Officer of INS Mysore. He also commanded Coast Guard Ship C-05, missile vessel INS Vibhuti, INS Nashak, missile corvette INS Kuthar, and guided missile frigate INS Sahyadri.
Strategic and leadership roles
In February 2020, he led the post-Galwan incident maritime operations as Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. At Naval Headquarters, he made significant contributions in Personnel Policy, Naval Plans, and Policy positions. After promotion to flag rank in February 2018, he served as Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Policy & Plans) and Deputy Commandant of the National Defence Academy. In December 2021, he became the Chief of Staff of the Eastern Naval Command, where he contributed to operational preparedness and infrastructure upgradation.
Contribution in Tri-Services Integration
Prior to appointment as Vice Chief of the Naval Staff, he played a key role in tri-services coordination, indigenisation, and force structure development as Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Operations) and DCIDS (Policy, Plans & Force Development) at Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff.
Awards and education
For his outstanding leadership, he was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2021. He has received higher military education from Defense Services Staff College (Wellington), Naval War College (Goa) and National Defense College (New Delhi).
Vice Admiral Vatsyayan’s wife is Sarita. He has a son, who has done graduation in Economics and MBA from Indian School of Business, and a daughter, who has done graduation in Humanities.
