- India
- Nov 01
Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit becomes 29th Chief of Air Staff
• Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit assumed charge as the 29th Chief of the Air Staff on October 31.
• He succeeded Air Chief Marshal A.P. Singh, who retired from service after an illustrious 42-year career marked by his pivotal role in executing ‘Operation Sindoor’.
• Air Chief Marshal Dixit was serving as the Vice Chief of the force.
• As Chief of Air Staff, his focus is likely to be on modernisation of the force.
• Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia is the new Vice Chief of the Air Staff.
Who is Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit?
• In a distinguished career spanning four decades, the Air Chief Marshal has held a variety of Command, Staff and Instructional appointments.
• Born on December 9, 1966, Air Chief Marshal Dixit was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 6, 1986.
• Prior to assuming charge as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff, he served as Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) at Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff.
• Before that, he served as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Central Air Command.
• The Air Chief Marshal is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Defence Staff Service College (Bangladesh) and National Defence College.
• He has more than 3,500 hours of extensive flying experience on various aircraft including Mirage-2000, variants of Mig, Kiran, Jaguar, IL-78, Hawk and Tejas.
• He is an experimental test pilot and a qualified flying instructor.
• During his service career spanning approximately four decades, Air Chief Marshal Dixit has been actively involved in numerous operations and exercises including Operation Sated Sagar, Operation Rakshak and Operation Sindoor.
• The Air Chief Marshal has held a number of significant field and staff appointments.
• He commanded a front-line fighter air base in Western sector and a premiere fighter training base in the Southern sector.
• He was involved in several indigenous upgrade and development programmes including the avionics upgrades for the Jaguar and MiG-27.
• He was awarded Vayu Sena Medal in 2006, Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023 and Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026 in recognition of his distinguished services.