Ashutosh Dixit

Dixit was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 6 December 1986 from the Air Force Academy, Dundigal. In a career spanning more than 37 years, he has held several field and staff appointments. He is an experimental test pilot and qualified flying instructor with more than 3300 hours of flying experience on a variety of aircraft in the IAF inventory^[7] and has participated in Operation Rakshak & Operation Safed Sagar during the Kargil War. As a Commanding Officer, he re-equipped one of the Squadrons of Indian Air Force with the Mirage aircraft and later commanded a front-line fighter air base in the Western Sector and a premiere fighter training base in the Southern Sector. He has flying experience primarily on Mirage 2000. He served as the Commanding officer of No. 9 Squadron and the Flying Training School in Bengaluru.^[6] He was also a Directing Staff at the Air Force Test Pilots School.

As Air Commodore, he served as the Principal Director for Air Staff Requirements at the Air Headquarter, New Delhi and later served as the Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Station Bidar, Karnataka.^[4][8] As Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Air Headquarter, New Delhi. Later, he served as the Air Defence Commander of the Southern Air Command, Trivandrum and Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Plans at the Air Headquarters, New Delhi.^[9]

After being promoted to the rank of Air Marshal in October 2021, he served as the Senior Air Staff Officer, South Western Air Command till 14 May 2023.^[5] On 15 May 2023, he took over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff from Air Marshal Narmdeshwar Tiwari. As the Deputy Chief of Air Staff in Air Headquarters, Dixit played a critical role in pushing forward the Aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) initiative of the defence forces. He has headed several projects with the adaption of future technologies and worked towards ensuring that the IAF achieves modernization while maintaining a steady focus on 'Aatmanirbharta Self Reliance.^[10] 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.^[11]

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 who superannuated from service on 31 August 2024.^[12] He relinquished the command of Central Air Command on 30 April 2025.

On 1 May 2025, Ashutosh Dixit took over as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff succeeding Lieutenant General Johnson P Mathew, who superannuated on 30 April 2025.^[13]

Dixit was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal in 2026,^[14] the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2023,^[15] the Vayu Sena Medal in 2006 ^[16] and Vishisht Seva Medal in 2011^[17] for his service.