New Delhi: Ace fighter pilot Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit is taking over as the new head of Indian Air Force's Prayagraj-based Central Air Command from September 1. He is succeeding Air Marshal RGK Kapoor who superannuated today.
Commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 6, 1986, Air Marshal Dixit is an Experimental Test Plot and a Qualified Flying Instructor with more than 3,300 hours of flying experience on a variety of aircraft in the IAF inventory.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College (Bangladesh) and National Defence College, Dixit was actively involved in the operations and exercises such as Op Safed Sagar in the Kargil War and Op-Bakshak.
As a Commanding Officer, he re-equipped one of the Squadrons of IAF with the state-of-the-art Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft and later commanded a front-line fighter air base in the Western Sector and a premiere fighter training base in the Southern Sector.
The Air Officer held the appointment of Air Defence Commander of Southern Air Command and also tenanted the appointments of Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects) and Assistant Chief of the Air Stall (Plans) at Air Headquarters. 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.
A number of indigenous aircraft projects including the LCA Mark-1A, Mark-2 and AMCA have seen significant forward movement in his tenure as Deputy Chief.
The Air Marshal headed many 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'.
Amid a major push for indigenisation in the military, Air Marshal Tejinder Singh will take over as the new Deputy Chief of Air Staff on September 1. In the Indian Air Force, the Deputy Chief of Air Force is in charge of modernisation and capital procurements for the force.
Air Marshal Tejinder Singh was the Senior Air Staff Officer of the all-important Eastern Air Command from May 2023.
A highly experienced fighter pilot, Singh has clocked more than 4,500 hours in different aircraft. A Category 'A' Flying Instructor, he has held several important command and staff appointments in his long career in the service. He is taking over his new appointment at a crucial time when the Indian Air Force has to take ahead multiple important aircraft projects, including the LCA Mark-1A, LCA Mark2-2 and upgrade of its Su-30MKI fleet.
The IAF also has to move forward with important projects like the induction of the C-295 transport aircraft project, along with multiple weapon systems and missiles being developed and manufactured within the country.
