Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit will succeed Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, who will retire from service on October 31, 2026.

Updated on: Oct 6, 2026, 19:19:41 IST

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Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit was appointed as the 29th Chief of the Air Staff on Tuesday. He will succeed Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, who will retire from service on October 31, 2026. His tenure will last until December 31, 2028.

“I am directed to convey the approval of the President for appointment of Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, PVSM, AVSM, VM, VSM as the next Chief of the Air Staff in the substantive rank of Air Chief Marshal, with effect from the afternoon of 31st October, 2026, with a tenure upto 31st December, 2028,” the notification read.

Dixit, who has been closely associated with the induction and advancement of the indigenous LCA Tejas and other aircraft programmes, is expected to continue supporting the government’s Aatmanirbharta push in defence, news agency ANI reported.

He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 6, 1986. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College (Bangladesh) and National Defence College, he has logged more than 3,500 hours of flying experience.

Dixit has extensive flying experience on various aircraft, including the Mirage-2000, MiG variants, 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 nearly four decades, he has been actively involved in numerous operations and exercises, including Op Safed Sagar, Op Rakshak, Cope India and Op Sindoor.

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