Air Marshal NAK Browne, an ace fighter pilot, today took over as the Vice Chief of Indian Air Force. He succeeds Air Marshal PK Barbora, who retired on Friday.AIR correspondent reports commissioned into the fighter stream in 1972, Air Marshal Browne has flown aircraft including the vintage Hunter, all variants of MiG-21s, Jaguar and SU-30MKI.An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Air Marshal Browne is a fighter combat leader and has also served as an instructor at the Tactics and Combat Development Establishment and Defence Services Staff College, Wellington.A graduate of the Air Command and Staff College, USA, the Air Marshal has held many key posts, including Chief Operations Officer and Air Officer Commanding of a SU-30 base and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Intelligence) at Air Headquarters.He was also responsible for establishing the Indian Defence Wing in Tel Aviv, Israel in April 1997 where he served as the defence attache till July 2000. Air Marshal Browne was previously commanding the Delhi-based Western Air Command.