Air Marshal, experimental test pilot and fighter leader Ashutosh Dixit has been anointed as the new chief of Indian Air Force. His appointment was announced by a notification that read, “I am directed to convey the approval of the President for appointment of Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM as the next Chief of the Air Staff in the substantive rank of Air Chief Marshal, with effect from the afternoon of 31st October, 2026, with a tenure upto 31st December, 2028″.
Ashutosh Dixit has a flying experience of more than 35,00 hours on the mirage 2000 variants of the MiG, Jaguar, Tejas, Hawk, IL-78,An-32, Avro, Kiran And HPT-32. He will assume the substantive rank of Air Chief Marshal from afternoon of 31st October 2026, with his appointment being in place until December 31st, 2028.
The appointment follows an approval of the President conveyed in a communication dated October 6th from New Delhi, addressing the Chief of the Air Staff at the Air Headquarters, Vayu Bhavan. The letter records the approval of the appointment of the Air Marshal Dixit as the next Chief of the Air Staff, effective 31st October. He will succeed Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh PVSM AVSM, the 28th Chief of the Air Staff, who assumed office on September 30th, two years ago and is due to superannuate on 31st October.
Air Marshal Dixit is currently, the 51st Vice Chief of the Air Staff, since July 1 2026. Commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force in 1986, Air Marshal Dixit is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, the Defence Services Staff College in Bangladesh and the National Defence College. He is a qualified flying instructor and an experimental test pilot.
Air Marshal Dixit has been awarded four honours across his career: the Vayu Sena Medal in 2006, the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023 and, this year, the Param Vishisht Seva Medal.
He takes charge at a busy time for the Air Force. It has to stay ready for operations while bringing in indigenous fighters, and work on next-generation combat aircraft is moving ahead. It is also getting more closely tied in with the Army and the Navy.Gve in Gutenberg ready format Also gve keyphrase and tags