New Delhi: Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit on Saturday took charge as the new chief of the Indian Air Force (IAF). He has more than 3,500 hours of flying experience on more than 20 types of aircraft and is a skilled fighter jet pilot. Ashutosh Dixit replaces Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, who retired after an illustrious career of 43 years. Before handing over the charge, Air Chief Marshal Singh was given a formal ‘Guard of Honour’ at the Race Course Air Force Station.
Air Chief Marshal Dixit, known for strategic planning and who played an important role in ‘Operation Vermillion’, was earlier serving as the Deputy Chief of the Air Force. In a career spanning four decades, Air Chief Marshal Dixit has served in several command, staff and training positions.
Joined the fighter unit of the Air Force in 1986
Ashutosh Dixit, who took over as the 29th Air Force Chief, is known for his strategic planning. Air Marshal Dixit, born on 9 December 1966, joined the combat unit of the Air Force on 6 December 1986. The Air Marshal is an alumnus of the National Defense Academy, Defense Staff Service College (Bangladesh) and the National Defense College. He has over 3,500 hours of extensive experience flying a variety of aircraft including Mirage-2000, various variants of MiG, Kiran, Jaguar, IL-78, Hawk and Tejas.
Active role in many campaigns
During his service span of nearly four decades, Air Marshal Dixit has been actively involved in several operations, including Operation Safed Sagar, Operation Rakshak and Operation Sindoor. For his distinguished services he was awarded the Vayu Sena Medal in 2006, the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011, the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023 and the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026.
Guard of Honor to AP Singh
Earlier, after 42 years of glorious service, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh handed over the command of the Indian Air Force to Ashutosh Dixit. On this occasion, AP Singh paid tribute to the brave soldiers at the National War Memorial who made the supreme sacrifice in the service of the country. After this, the Indian Air Force soldiers gave him a guard of honor as a farewell salute.
Before assuming the post of Chief of the Indian Air Force, Ashutosh Dixit has served as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, Chief of Defense Integrated Staff, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Central Air Command, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff, Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command, Air Defense Commander, Southern Air Command.
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