Balakrishnan Manikantan

Air Marshal Balakrishnan Manikantan, PVSM, AVSM, VM is a retired officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C), Central Air Command. Previously, he served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Southern Air Command. He assumed the office on 1 May 2023 till 30 April 2025 succeeding Air Marshal Jonnalagedda Chalapati.

Early life and education Balakrishnan Manikantan, a native Thiruvarppu, a village in Kottayam, Kerala. Born to a teacher couple, Balakrishna Pillai and P K Lakshmi Kutty Amma, Manikantan is an alumnus of Sanik School, Kazhakootam and National Defence Academy, Pune. He holds a Post Graduate degree from Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, Masters in Management Studies (MMS) from College of Defence Management, Secunderabad and M Phil from National Defence College, New Delhi.

Career Balakrishnan Manikantan was commissioned as the helicopter pilot in the Indian Air Force. In a career spanning over 37 years, he has as more than 5,400 hours of flying experience across various helicopters and fixed wing plane.

He is a Helicopter combat leader and a Cat ‘A’ qualified flying instructor. He served as the commanding officer of No. 152 Helicopter Unit and has taken part in the Indian Air Force contingent at UN Mission in Congo.

As Group Captain, he served as the station commander of Allahabad Airport and later as Air Commodore, he served as the Air Officer Commanding of 21 Wing at AFS Leh in the Western sector. Under his command, the units won trophies for performance at the Command level.

As Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Senior Air & Administration Staff Officer, Maintenance Command at Nagpur. Later, helped in setting up International Defence Cooperation at HQ-IDS and served as the Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (ACIDS) at Integrated Defence Staff.

He took part in the Operation Pawan, an operation against LTTE by Indian Peace Keeping Force and Operation Meghdoot.

After his promotion to Air Marshal in August 2022, he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer, Eastern Air Command till 30 April 2023.

He took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Air Command on 1 May 2023 from Air Marshal Jonnalagedda Chalapati and served till 30 April 2025.

Honours and decorations During his career, Balakrishnan Manikantan has received the Commendation card by AOC-in-C, Training Command in 1988 and again by GOC-in-C, Northern Command in 2015. He has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2025, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2017 and Vayu Sena Medal in 2006 for his service.

Personal life A fitness enthusiast and voracious reader, he is married to Group Captain Nirmala Tutakne Manikantan (Retd). The couple has a son Astrith and a daughter Abhishree.