Ashutosh Dixit

Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM is a serving officer of the Indian Air Force. He is presently serving as the 51st Vice Chief of the Air Staff. He was previously serving as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, prior to that he was Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command. He earlier served served as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and as Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command. and the Air Force Academy, Dundigal. He is also an alumnus of Defence Services Command and Staff College, Bangladesh and National Defence College, New Delhi. In a career spanning over three decades, he has more than 3300 hours of flying experience across various fighter jets and has held various command & staff appointments. He is an experimental test pilot, qualified flying instructor and a fighter combat leader who has flown the HPT-32, AN-32, AVRO, Kiran, Jaguar, IL-78 and HAWK. The air marshal's operational tenure include being the Commanding Officer of No. 9 Squadron. He re-equipped No. 9 Sqn with Mirage-2000 and later commanded a front line fighter air base in Western Sector and Flight Test Squadron, ASTE in Bengaluru. He has participated in Operation Rakshak & Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil War.

As an Air Commodore, he served as the Principal Director, Air Staff Requirements at Air Headquarters, New Delhi and later served as the Air Officer Commanding, Air Force Station Bidar, Karnataka. As Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Air Defence Commander, Southern Air Command, as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Projects and as Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Plans at the Air Headquarters, New Delhi.

After being promoted to the rank of Air Marshal on 1 October 2022, he assumed the appointment of Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command. On 15 May 2023, he took over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff succeeding Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari. He has headed several projects with the adaption of future technologies and worked towards ensuring that IAF achieves modernization while maintaining a steady focus on 'Aatmanirbharta' i.e. self reliance. A number of indigenous aircraft projects including LCA Mark-1A, Mark-2 and AMCA have seen significant forward movement during his tenure as Deputy Chief.

On 1 September 2024, Air Marshal Dixit took over as the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command succeeding Air Marshal Ravi Gopal Krishana Kapoor. He relinquished the command of Central Air Command on 30 April 2025. On 1 May 2025, he assumed the appointment of Chief of Integrated Defence Staff succeeding Lieutenant General Johnson P Mathew, who superannuated on 30 April 2025.

On 1 July 2026, Air Marshal Dixit took over as the 51st Vice Chief of Air Staff succeeding Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor when the latter superannuated on 30 June 2026. and the couple is blessed with two children.

Awards and decorations During his career, the air marshal has been awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023, the Vayu Sena Medal in 2006 and Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011.

Dates of ranks