Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit Appointed Next IAF Chief, to Take Over on October 31

Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, one of the Indian Air Force’s most experienced test pilots and fighter leaders, has been appointed the next Chief of the Air Staff. He will take over as Air Chief Marshal from the afternoon of 31 October 2026 and will remain in office until 31 December 2028.

The appointment was cleared by the President and communicated in a letter dated 6 October 2026 from New Delhi to the Chief of the Air Staff at Air Headquarters, Vayu Bhawan. The letter formally records the approval for Air Marshal Dixit’s elevation as the next service chief with effect from 31 October 2026 afternoon, followed by a tenure extending to the end of 2028.

He will succeed Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, PVSM, AVSM, the 28th Chief of the Air Staff, who assumed charge on 30 September 2024 and is due to superannuate on 31 October 2026. Air Marshal Dixit is currently the 51st Vice Chief of the Air Staff, a post he has held since 1 July 2026.

A fighter pilot with a long operational and test background

Commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on 6 December 1986, Air Marshal Dixit has spent nearly four decades in flying, operational command, test flying and strategic planning roles. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, the Defence Services Staff College in Bangladesh and the National Defence College. He is also a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot.

According to the official record issued when he assumed office as Vice Chief, he has accumulated more than 3,500 flying hours across a wide range of aircraft, including the Mirage-2000, several MiG variants, Jaguar, Tejas, Hawk, IL-78, An-32, Avro, Kiran and HPT-32.

His career has included both frontline operational service and work on indigenous and upgraded platforms. He commanded No. 9 Squadron during its re-equipment with the Mirage-2000, served as Directing Staff at the Air Force Test Pilots School, and later commanded the Flight Test Squadron at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment in Bengaluru.

In the test environment, he was associated with indigenous upgrade programmes, including avionics upgrades of the Jaguar and MiG-27. He is also credited with participation in Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil conflict and in Operation Rakshak. As Director of Air Staff Requirements, he was closely involved in the planning and conduct of the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft trials.

From Air Headquarters to tri-service coordination

At Air Headquarters, Air Marshal Dixit has held several key staff appointments, including Principal Director of Air Staff Requirements, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects) and Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans). He has also served as Air Defence Commander of Southern Air Command.

He was promoted to Air Marshal on 1 October 2022. Before moving to New Delhi as Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, he served as Senior Air Staff Officer at Headquarters South Western Air Command. He took over as Deputy Chief on 15 May 2023.

During his tenure as Deputy Chief, several indigenous combat aircraft programmes, including the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas Mk-1A, Tejas Mk-2 and the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft, made notable progress. He has continued to remain associated with these efforts in subsequent assignments, including a review of the Tejas Mk-1A and other indigenous aviation projects at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bengaluru.

He later commanded Central Air Command as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief from 1 September 2024 to 30 April 2025. On 1 May 2025, he assumed charge as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, and remained in that tri-service post until 30 June 2026.

That period included coordination during Operation Sindoor and the release of a series of joint doctrines intended to institutionalise tri-service planning. He then took over as Vice Chief of the Air Staff on 1 July 2026, succeeding Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor.

Air Marshal Dixit has been recognised with the Vayu Sena Medal in 2006, the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023 and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026.

His elevation comes at a time when the Indian Air Force is balancing operational readiness with the induction of indigenous fighters, work on next-generation combat aircraft and deeper integration with the Army and the Navy. With a background that spans fighter operations, test flying, force planning and tri-service coordination, Air Marshal Dixit is set to lead the service through that phase until 31 December 2028.