The Central Government has appointed Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit as the next Chief of the Indian Air Force. He will take over as Air Chief Marshal on 31 October 2026. He will replace the current Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, who is retiring from service on October 31. Ashutosh Dixit's appointment has been approved by the President and his tenure as the Chief of the Indian Air Force will be till 31 December 2028.
Ashutosh Dixit has long experience and has been in the Air Force for almost four decades. He was commissioned in the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 6 December 1986. He has been an alumnus of the National Defense Academy (NDA), Defense Services Staff College of Bangladesh and National Defense College.
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flew many planes
Ashutosh Dixit has gained a lot of flying experience in his career so far. He is also an experimental test pilot and a qualified flying instructor. He has more than 3,500 hours of flying experience to his name. In his long career, he has flown many aircraft like Mirage-2000, different versions of MiG, Jaguar, Hawk, Tejas, An-32, Avro, Kiran and IL-78.
held important positions
Ashutosh Dixit's career was not limited to just flying fighter planes. He has served in many important command and staff positions in the Air Force. He has been the commanding officer of a Mirage-2000 squadron, commander of a frontline fighter base in the western sector and commander of a major fighter training base in the southern sector. Apart from this, he held important positions related to Air Staff Requirement, Projects and Planning in Air Headquarters. He also served as Air Defense Commander in the Southern Air Command and Senior Air Staff Officer in the South-Western Air Command.
Emphasis on increasing defense technology
Ashutosh Dixit is also recognized among the officers who advanced fighter aircraft and defense technology made in the country. While serving as Deputy Chief of Air Staff in 2023, he visited Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Aeronautical Development Agency and National Flight Test Center in Bengaluru to review the growth of indigenous fighter aircraft projects. During this period, he himself also flew the LCA Tejas trainer aircraft. According to the information available on the website of the Defense Ministry, he has emphasized on pursuing self-reliance in the development and manufacturing of fighter aircraft in the Air Force.
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Became Vice Chief in July
He not only has technical and operational experience, but also has the experience of better coordination between the three armies. He was the Chief of Integrated Defense Staff (CISC) from May 2025 to June 2026 and then became the Vice Chief of the Air Force on 1 July 2026. During his career he took part in operations and operations such as Operation Safed Sagar, Operation Rakshak, Cope India and Operation Sindoor. For his services, he has been awarded the Vayu Sena Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal and Param Vishisht Seva Medal. Now, after taking over the command of the Air Force from October 31, he will have the responsibility of carrying forward modernization, indigenous defense technology, new fighter aircraft and better coordination between the three forces.