NEW DELHI: The govt has appointed Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, currently serving as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, as the 29th Chief of the Air Staff, in the rank of Air Chief Marshal, with effect from Oct 31, 2026. He will succeed Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, who superannuates on Oct 31.An experimental test pilot and qualified flying instructor with over 3,500 hours of flying experience, Air Marshal Dixit has held key operational and strategic appointments, including CISC, HQ IDS and AOC-in-C, Central Air CommandThe Air Marshal has extensive flying experience on various aircraft, including Mirage-2000, variants of MiG, HPT-32, An-32, Avro, Kiran, Jaguar, IL-78, Hawk, and Tejas.During his service career, spanning approximately four decades, he has been actively involved in numerous operations and exercises, viz. Op Safed Sagar, Op Rakshak, Cope-India and Op Sindoor. Widely known for pushing the indigenous LCA Tejas and other indigenous aircraft projects in the force, Air Marshal Dixit is expected to further promote the Aatmanirbharta initiative of the govt.
