IAF Grants Honorary Ranks to 417 Air Warriors on Independence Day 2026

The Indian Air Force has announced honorary commissions and rank elevations for 417 serving and retired air warriors ahead of Independence Day 2026, with the Ministry of Defence releasing the official lists through the Press Information Bureau on August 14, 2026.

The awards recognise long service and professional contribution across the force and cover three categories: promotion from Honorary Flying Officer to Honorary Flight Lieutenant, grant of honorary commissions as Honorary Flying Officer, and post-retirement grant of the honorary rank of Flying Officer.

According to the official announcement, 82 Master Warrant Officers who already held the honorary rank of Flying Officer have now been promoted to Honorary Flight Lieutenant. A further 328 Master Warrant Officers and Warrant Officers have been granted honorary commissions as Honorary Flying Officers. In a separate list, seven retired Master Warrant Officers have been conferred the honorary rank of Flying Officer after retirement.

Together, the three lists account for 417 personnel recognised by the IAF on the eve of India’s 80th Independence Day.

82 Master Warrant Officers promoted to Honorary Flight Lieutenant

The first list covers 82 Master Warrant Officers who had been serving with the honorary rank of Flying Officer and have now been elevated to Honorary Flight Lieutenant. The list begins with MWO (HFO) Nagendra Majumdar, followed by M Vijaya Bala Sundar, Ramesh Chand, Penke Srinivas, Arbind Kumar Singh, Gottapu Ranga Rao, Yashbir Malik, Onkar Singh, Braham Parkash and Dharampal Dahiya.

It continues with Suresh Kumar Jangid, Rakesh Kumar Shrivastava, Devender Singh, Ramswaroop Sharma, Bimlesh Kumar Pandey, Maha Singh Bidhan, Maheswar Nayak, Manzoor Ahmad Dar, Manoj Kalia, Jaiparkash Gulia and Ram Krishan Kaushik.

Other personnel named in the list include Krishna Chand Prasad, Subrata Acharjee, Pradeep Kumar, Kirpal Singh, Harish Chandra Yadav, Rajinder Singh Nain, Mahendra Singh, Mayank Bajpai, Biswajit Jana, Poorna Ram Mali, Vasudev Singh, Basharat Khan and Satinder Singh Sian.

Further down the list are Ravinder Singh Rawat, Bapi Ghosh, Manoranjan Panda, Praveen Kumar Tyagi, Naresh Kumar Malik, Veeresh Rai, Amiya Kumar Dhal, Surender Kumar, Same Ram Hooda, Tushar Kanti Chatterjee, Brajesh Kumar Singh, Girish Kumar Jha, Subrat Ranjan Behera, Tarjinder Singh and Binod Bihari Tikadar.

The 82-member list ends with MWO (HFO) Shiv Ram Singh and MWO (HFO) Ramesh Kumar.

Official PIB List of 82 Honorary Flight Lieutenants (PDF)

The largest category in the Independence Day 2026 honours comprises 328 Master Warrant Officers and Warrant Officers who have been granted honorary commissions as Honorary Flying Officers. The official list spans 16 pages and starts with MWO Ratan Lal Shukla and MWO Ajaivir Singh, followed by WO Madan Lal, MWO Rajender Kumar, MWO Sanjay Kumar Dixit, MWO Brahma Nand Mishra, MWO Asit Bhattacharjee and MWO Nripendra Dwivedi.

Among those named are MWO Harendra Singh, MWO Alok Kumar Mazumdar, MWO Gyan Prakash Upadhyay, MWO Jasbeer Singh Nagi, MWO Anil Kumar Singh, MWO Madan Kumar, MWO Suresh Kumar M P, MWO Haridwar Singh and MWO Asif Hassan.

The list also includes MWO Pankaj Kumar Rastogi, MWO Manoj Kumar Rohal, MWO Muraleedharan C, MWO Kanwal Dutt Bhardwaj, WO Arun Kumar, MWO Ram Pravesh Singh, MWO Bhupinder Singh Banga, MWO Pradeep Kumar Pradhan and MWO Jayaprakasha Sahu.

Further entries include MWO Jijo Joseph, MWO Harish Kumar Sharma, MWO Gopal Chandra Das, MWO Kuldeep Singh, MWO Satya Prakash Pandey, MWO Ratnesh Kumar Singh, MWO Dinesh Kumar Singh, MWO Pradeep Kumar Bhardwaj and WO Janak Kishor Singh.

The final part of the list names MWO Anil Kumar Yadav, MWO Ombir Singh, MWO Naresh Kumar Sharma, MWO Rakesh Kumar Sharma, MWO Shajee K, MWO Vikas Choudhary, MWO Debarato Nath, WO Santosh Kumar Sharma, MWO Narender Singh and MWO Virendra Kumar Audichya, among others. The list concludes with MWO Bijan Kumar Majumdar, MWO Lalan Prasad Singh, MWO Deep Narayan, MWO Ashok Kumar Tiwari and MWO Neel Sengupta.

Official PIB List of 328 Honorary Flying Officers (PDF)

Seven retired MWOs receive Flying Officer rank after retirement

A separate list released for Independence Day 2026 recognises seven retired Master Warrant Officers with the honorary rank of Flying Officer after retirement. The personnel named are MWO Nava Kumar Brahma (Retd), MWO Madan Lal Nagpal (Retd), MWO Raghunath Jena (Retd), MWO Pankaj Kumar Mishra (Retd), MWO Ramniwas Verma (Retd), MWO Jitendra Kumar (Retd) and MWO R Ayyappan (Retd).

Official PIB List of Seven Honorary Flying Officers on Retirement (PDF)

Meaning of honorary commissions in the IAF

Honorary commissions are a long-standing military practice under which experienced senior airmen are recognised by being granted honorary commissioned ranks. In the Indian Air Force, Master Warrant Officer is the highest airmen rank, and personnel at this level typically bring decades of service across operational, technical, administrative, training and other duties.

By granting honorary ranks, the IAF formally acknowledges the career and contribution of senior air warriors who have spent years supporting the service’s functioning and operational effectiveness. The Independence Day and Republic Day honours are among the occasions when the Armed Forces recognise such sustained service.

For Independence Day 2026, the three lists together recognise 417 serving and retired air warriors, reflecting the IAF’s tradition of marking the service of its senior personnel on national occasions.

Press Information Bureau – IAF Honorary Ranks Independence Day 2026