New Delhi. The government has appointed Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit as the next Chief of the Air Staff, placing an experienced fighter pilot, test pilot and senior military planner at the helm of the Indian Air Force.
Dixit, currently serving as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, will assume the rank of Air Chief Marshal and take charge on the afternoon of October 31. He will succeed Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, who is scheduled to retire on the same day after leading the force through a period of heightened operational and modernisation demands.
The appointment makes Dixit the 29th Chief of the Air Staff. According to the government notification, his tenure will continue until December 31, 2028. He will inherit responsibility for a force confronting a complex security environment, including challenges along India’s northern and western borders and the need to sustain air operations across a large and diverse geography.
Dixit was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on December 6, 1986. During a career spanning nearly four decades, he has flown more than 3,500 hours on a wide range of aircraft, including the Mirage 2000, MiG variants, Jaguar, Tejas, Hawk, Kiran, IL-78, An-32, Avro and HPT-32. He is also an Experimental Test Pilot and a Qualified Flying Instructor.
His operational experience includes participation in Operation Safed Sagar during the 1999 Kargil conflict and Operation Rakshak. He has also been associated with major exercises, including Cope India, and more recent operations such as Operation Sindoor, according to reports on his service record.
Dixit has held several important command appointments. He commanded a Mirage 2000 squadron, a frontline fighter base in the western sector and a fighter training base in the southern sector. He later served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command, one of the IAF’s major operational commands.
His senior appointments have also involved policy, planning and force development. Before becoming Vice Chief, Dixit served as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and held positions including Principal Director of Air Staff Requirements, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff for Projects and Assistant Chief of the Air Staff for Plans. He also served as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff at Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff.
The incoming chief is widely associated with the IAF’s efforts to promote indigenous aerospace programmes, particularly the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas and other Indian aircraft projects. His appointment could give further momentum to the government’s Aatmanirbharta agenda in defence aviation.
The IAF is working to expand its fighter fleet, improve air-defence networks, strengthen unmanned and surveillance capabilities, and accelerate the induction of indigenous platforms. It is also managing the transition towards newer systems such as the Tejas Mk1A, while preparing for longer-term programmes including the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft.
Dixit’s test-pilot background may prove especially relevant as the service evaluates new aircraft, weapons and electronic systems. His experience across operational command, procurement planning and indigenous development gives him exposure to both battlefield requirements and the institutional challenges of modernising a technologically demanding force.
He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, the Defence Services Staff College in Bangladesh and the National Defence College in New Delhi. His decorations include the Vayu Sena Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Param Vishisht Seva Medal.
His appointment signals continuity in operational preparedness, while placing renewed emphasis on domestic aerospace capability and long-term transformation of the Indian Air Force.
