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Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, who played a key role in coordinating tri-service military operations during Operation Sindoor, assumed charge as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) on Wednesday, marking a significant change in the Indian Air Force’s top leadership.
He succeeds Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor, who retired on June 30 after completing four decades of distinguished service in the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Before taking over as the IAF’s second-in-command, Air Marshal Dixit served as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), a position he held from May 1, 2025, until June 30.
During his tenure at the Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff (HQ IDS), Air Marshal Dixit was closely associated with advancing jointness among the Army, Navy, and Air Force. He oversaw tri-service coordination during Operation Sindoor, a nearly 88-hour combat operation that demonstrated integrated warfare for the first time in India.
According to HQ IDS, his tenure was marked by several institutional initiatives, including the release of 20 joint doctrines and primers, the conceptualisation of the Ran Samwad military dialogue platform, the conduct of Combined and Joint Commanders’ Conferences, and the formulation of the Defence Forces Vision 2047 roadmap aimed at building a technology-driven and integrated military.
Commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF in December 1986, Air Marshal Dixit is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, the Defence Services Staff College in Bangladesh and the National Defence College, New Delhi.
A qualified flying instructor and experimental test pilot, he has logged over 3,300 flying hours on more than 20 aircraft types, including the Mirage-2000, MiG-21 and Jaguar.
Over a career spanning nearly four decades, he has commanded No. 9 Squadron during its transition to the Mirage-2000 fleet, a frontline fighter base in the western sector and a premier fighter training establishment in southern India. His staff assignments have included Principal Director Air Staff Requirements, Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Projects), Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans), Senior Air Staff Officer at South Western Air Command and Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.
He later served as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command before moving to HQ IDS as CISC, where he spearheaded several initiatives to strengthen tri-service integration and joint operational planning.
Air Marshal Tejinder Singh Takes Over as CISC
Meanwhile, Air Marshal Tejinder Singh has taken over as the new Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC).
Commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on June 13, 1987, Air Marshal Tejinder Singh is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Defence Services Staff College and National Defence College. A Category ‘A’ Qualified Flying Instructor, he has accumulated over 4,500 hours of flying experience.
He has commanded a fighter squadron, a radar station, a premier fighter base and served as Air Officer Commanding, Jammu and Kashmir. Before assuming his new assignment, he was the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the South Western Air Command.
His staff appointments have included Deputy Assistant Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Financial Planning), Air Commodore (Aerospace Safety), Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operations-Offensive), Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Operations-Strategy), Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command, Deputy Chief of the Air Staff and Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Training Command.
The twin appointments come at a time when the armed forces are pushing ahead with reforms to enhance theatre-level integration and joint warfighting capabilities following the operational experience gained during Operation Sindoor.
Ravi Shankar
Dr Ravi Shankar has over two decades of experience in communications, print journalism, electronic media, documentary film making and new media.
He makes regular appearances on national television news channels as a commentator and analyst on current and political affairs. Apart from being an acknowledged Journalist, he has been a passionate newsroom manager bringing a wide range of journalistic experience from past associations with India’s leading media conglomerates (Times of India group and India Today group) and had led global news-gathering operations at world’s biggest multimedia news agency- ANI-Reuters. He has covered Parliament extensively over the past several years. Widely traveled, he has covered several summits as part of media delegation accompanying the Indian President, Vice President, Prime Minister, External Affairs Minister and Finance Minister across Asia, Africa and Europe.
