SHILLONG (PTI): Air Marshal S P Dharkar has taken charge as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force's Eastern Air Command, officials said.

Dharkar, the former Director General of the Defence Space Agency, succeeds Air Marshal D K Patnaik, who superannuated on last Friday.

Prior to his new posting as chief of the IAF Eastern Air Command, Dharkar was the Senior Air Staff Officer at South Western Air Command in Gandhinagar, they said.

With over 3,600 hours of flying experience, the senior officer is an alumnus of the Rashtriya Indian Military College-Dehradun, National Defence Academy-Pune, Defence Services Staff College-Wellington and Air War College-USA, a defense spokesperson said.

Dharkar was commissioned in IAF in June 1985.