Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit PVSM AVSM VM VSM took over as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Indian Air Force on 01 Jul 26. The Air Marshal was commissioned into the fighter stream of IAF on 06 December 1986. He is an alumnus of National Defence Academy, Defence Staff Service College (Bangladesh) and National Defence College with more than 3500 hours of flying.
The Air Marshal has an extensive flying experience on various aircraft; to name a few; Mirage-2000, variants of Mig, HPT-32, An-32, Avro, Kiran, Jaguar, IL-78, Hawk and Tejas. He is an Experimental Test Pilot and a Qualified Flying Instructor.
During his service career, spanning approx four decades, he has been actively involved in numerous operations and exercises viz Op-Safed Sagar, Op-Rakshak, Cope-India and Op Sindoor. During his illustrious career, the Air Marshal has held a number of significant field and staff appointments.
As Commanding Officer, he re-equipped No. 9 Sqn with Mirage-2000 and later commanded a front line fighter air base in Western Sector and a premiere fighter training base in Southern Sector. He has served as a Directing Staff at Air Force Test Pilots School and held the staff appointment of Principle Director Air Staff Requirement at Air HQ.
The Air Officer held the appointment of Air Defence Commander of Southern Air Command and tenanted the appointments of Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects), Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Plans) at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan), Senior Air Staff Officer at Head Quarters South Western Air Command and Deputy Chief of Air Staff at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan).
Prior to assuming charge as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff, the Air Marshal served as Air Officer Commanding in Chief, Central Air Command, and thereafter as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) at Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS).
Tenanting the Tri-services appointment, the Air Marshal with his visionary leadership; has continuously strived for Jointness and Integration. Multiple Joint Doctrines & Orders have been released and various initiatives have been conceived towards strengthening of Defence Forces in all domains.
In recognition of his exemplary and distinguished service to the nation, the Air Marshal has been awarded Vayu Sena Medal in 2006, Vishisht Seva Medal 2011, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023 and Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026.
Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit takes over as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff from Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor SYSM PVSM AVSM VM who superannuated on 30 Jun 26 after 40 years of glorious and distinguished service to the nation.