The Indian Air Force gets a new Chief and a new Vice Chief this week.
Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit takes over as the 29th Chief of the Air Staff (CAS) on the afternoon of 31 October 2026, in the rank of Air Chief Marshal. The Government announced his appointment on 6 October 2026. He succeeds Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, the 28th Chief, who retires on 31 October. His tenure runs to 31 December 2028.
On 30 October, the Ministry of Defence announced that Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia will be the new Vice Chief of the Air Staff (VCAS) from 1 November 2026. He is now the Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) of Eastern Air Command.
Both officers are alumni of the National Defence Academy and were commissioned as fighter pilots. With this change, all of India's top military posts have changed hands in 2026.
The two officers
| Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit | Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia | |
|---|---|---|
| New post | Chief of the Air Staff (29th), from 31 October 2026 | Vice Chief of the Air Staff, from 1 November 2026 |
| Commissioned | 6 December 1986, fighter stream | 11 June 1988, fighter stream |
| Training | NDA; Defence Services Command and Staff College, Bangladesh; National Defence College, New Delhi | NDA; Advanced Command and Staff Course, UK; National Defence College, Bangladesh |
| Command | No. 9 Squadron, re-equipped with the Mirage-2000 under him; a frontline fighter base | A frontline fighter squadron; TACDE; Air Force Station Bareilly |
| Senior posts | Deputy Chief of the Air Staff; AOC-in-C, Central Air Command; Chief of Integrated Defence Staff; Vice Chief (from 1 July 2026) | Head of DASI; Defence Attaché, Japan and South Korea; Senior Air Staff Officer and then AOC-in-C, Eastern Air Command (from 1 February 2026) |
| Awards | VM (2006), VSM (2011), AVSM (2023), PVSM (2026) | VM (2008), AVSM (2018) |
Walia is qualified on all variants of the MiG-21, MiG-23, MiG-27, Jaguar and Su-30MKI. He holds three postgraduate degrees in defence and strategic studies. Dixit is also a qualified test pilot, and has been closely linked with the IAF's indigenous aircraft programmes, including the Tejas.
Ashutosh Dixit's path to the top
Dixit has held both a joint-service post and the IAF's second post in the last two years.
As Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), from May 2025 to June 2026, he headed Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff. That headquarters was set up in 2001 after the post-Kargil review of national security, to make the three Services work together.
He then served four months as Vice Chief before his elevation. That route is now the norm. V.R. Chaudhari in 2021 and Amar Preet Singh in 2024 also moved up from Vice Chief to Chief.
2026: a full change at the top
Dixit's takeover completes a turnover of every top military post in five months:
| Post | Officer | Took over |
|---|---|---|
| Chief of Defence Staff | General N.S. Raja Subramani | 31 May 2026 |
| Chief of the Naval Staff | Admiral Krishna Swaminathan | 31 May 2026 |
| Chief of the Army Staff | General Dhiraj Seth | 30 June 2026 |
| Chief of the Air Staff | Air Chief Marshal Ashutosh Dixit | 31 October 2026 |
General Raja Subramani is India's third CDS, after General Bipin Rawat and General Anil Chauhan. Like the CDS before him, he is also Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs in the Ministry of Defence.
For an NDA aspirant, this table is a likely source of "who heads which Service" questions in the 2027 papers.
How a Service Chief is chosen
The process is set by convention and service rules, not by the Constitution:
- The proposal. The Ministry of Defence draws up a panel of the senior-most eligible officers and sends it to the Government.
- The decision. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), made up of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister, approves the choice.
- Seniority is not binding. The Government can pick a junior officer. In 1983, General A.S. Vaidya was appointed Army Chief over Lieutenant General S.K. Sinha. In 2016, Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat was chosen over two officers senior to him.
- Tenure. A Service Chief serves three years or until the age of 62, whichever comes first. That is why Dixit's term ends on 31 December 2028, at the end of the month in which he turns 62, before three years are up.
- The CDS can serve until the age of 65. In 2022, the rules were changed so that serving or retired three-star officers under 62 could also be considered for the post. General Raja Subramani was a retired Lieutenant General when he was chosen.
Above them all, the President is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces under Article 53(2) of the Constitution. See our notes on the Union executive and the President.
The Vice Chief's job
The Vice Chief of the Air Staff is the IAF's second-in-command. He is an Air Marshal, a three-star rank, and the senior-most of the Principal Staff Officers at Air Headquarters (Vayu Bhawan) in New Delhi.
In practice, the Vice Chief oversees much of the staff work at Air Headquarters. That leaves the Chief free for command and for joint work with the other Services and the Government.
The Chief and Vice Chief are supported by the commanders of the IAF's seven commands, each led by an AOC-in-C. Our earlier article on the IAF's commands, ranks and aircraft covers that structure.
Eastern Air Command, the post Walia leaves
Walia moves to Air Headquarters from Eastern Air Command, headquartered at Shillong. He took it over on 1 February 2026 from Air Marshal Surat Singh.
The command is responsible for air operations over the north-east and the eastern frontier, including the borders with China, Bhutan, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Its bases include Hasimara in West Bengal, home of one of the IAF's two Rafale squadrons. The 30 October release did not name his successor at Shillong.
Decoding the terms in the citations
The two officers' career records use several IAF terms that are worth knowing.
| Term | What it is |
|---|---|
| TACDE | Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment, the IAF's school for fighter tactics, at Gwalior. Its instructors are among the IAF's best combat pilots. |
| DASI | Directorate of Air Staff Inspection, which inspects IAF units for operational readiness and standards |
| ASTE | Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment, Bengaluru, where new aircraft and systems are flight-tested and test pilots are trained |
| SASO | Senior Air Staff Officer, the second-in-command of an operational command |
| AOC-in-C | Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, the head of a command |
| NDC | National Defence College, New Delhi, the senior course for strategy and national security, for officers of the three Services, civil servants and foreign officers |
| Defence Attaché | A serving officer posted to an Indian embassy to handle military relations with the host country |
The medals in the citations
Both officers carry the letters of several service awards after their names. The order matters in exams:
| Award | What it recognises |
|---|---|
| Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM) | Distinguished service of the most exceptional order, in peacetime |
| Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM) | Distinguished service of an exceptional order |
| Vishisht Seva Medal (VSM) | Distinguished service of a high order |
| Vayu Sena Medal (VM) | Individual acts of exceptional devotion to duty or courage in the IAF. The Army's equivalent is the Sena Medal and the Navy's the Nao Sena Medal |
The wartime counterparts of the PVSM, AVSM and VSM are the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal, the Uttam Yudh Seva Medal and the Yudh Seva Medal.
Dixit received his awards in the order VM, VSM, AVSM and PVSM. The last three recognise distinguished service of a rising order, and the PVSM came in 2026, the year he reached the top.
🔑 Revision block
The change. Ashutosh Dixit = 29th CAS, Air Chief Marshal, from the afternoon of 31 October 2026; announced 6 October; tenure to 31 December 2028; succeeds Amar Preet Singh (28th). Inderpal Singh Walia = VCAS from 1 November 2026.
Dixit. Commissioned 6 December 1986, fighter; NDA; CO No. 9 Squadron (Mirage-2000); DCAS; AOC-in-C Central Air Command; CISC (May 2025 - June 2026); VCAS from 1 July 2026; VM, VSM, AVSM, PVSM.
Walia. Commissioned 11 June 1988, fighter; NDA; TACDE; DASI; Defence Attaché Japan and South Korea; AOC-in-C Eastern Air Command (Shillong) from 1 February 2026; VM (2008), AVSM (2018).
Top posts in 2026. CDS Gen N.S. Raja Subramani (31 May); CNS Adm Krishna Swaminathan (31 May); COAS Gen Dhiraj Seth (30 June); CAS ACM Ashutosh Dixit (31 October).
Appointment rules. Chosen by the ACC (PM + Home Minister); seniority not binding (1983, 2016); chiefs serve 3 years or to age 62; CDS to 65; 2022 rule widened the CDS pool; Article 53(2): President is Supreme Commander.
Medals. PVSM > AVSM > VSM (peacetime); Sarvottam > Uttam > Yudh Seva (wartime); VM = Vayu Sena Medal.
🎯 Practice MCQs
Q1. Who succeeds Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh as Chief of the Air Staff? (a) Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit (b) Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia (c) Air Marshal Surat Singh (d) Air Marshal Nagesh Kapoor
→ (a) Walia becomes Vice Chief; Surat Singh was Walia's predecessor at Eastern Air Command.
Q2. The headquarters of the IAF's Eastern Air Command, which Air Marshal Walia leaves to become Vice Chief, is at: (a) Prayagraj (b) Gandhinagar (c) Shillong (d) Thiruvananthapuram
→ (c) Prayagraj is Central, Gandhinagar is South Western and Thiruvananthapuram is Southern Air Command.
Q3. The appointment of the Service Chiefs is approved by the: (a) Cabinet Committee on Security (b) Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (c) Defence Acquisition Council (d) Union Public Service Commission
→ (b) The ACC consists of the Prime Minister and the Home Minister.
Q4. A Service Chief in India holds office for: (a) A fixed term of five years (b) Two years, extendable by one year (c) Until the age of 65 (d) Three years or until the age of 62, whichever is earlier
→ (d) The age limit of 65 applies to the Chief of Defence Staff.
Q5. Which of the following is the highest award for distinguished service in peacetime? (a) Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (b) Param Vishisht Seva Medal (c) Vishisht Seva Medal (d) Vayu Sena Medal
→ (b) The order is PVSM, AVSM, VSM.
Q6. Under which Article of the Constitution is the supreme command of the Defence Forces vested in the President? (a) Article 53(2) (b) Article 72 (c) Article 74 (d) Article 352
→ (a) Article 72 is the pardoning power; Article 74 the Council of Ministers; Article 352 the National Emergency.
Q7. Consider the following statements: 1. General N.S. Raja Subramani is India's third Chief of Defence Staff. 2. The Chief of Defence Staff also heads the Department of Military Affairs. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Neither 1 nor 2 (d) Both 1 and 2
→ (d) He followed General Bipin Rawat and General Anil Chauhan, and is also Secretary, Department of Military Affairs.
Q8. TACDE, which Air Marshal Walia once commanded, is the IAF's establishment for: (a) Aircraft maintenance (b) Recruitment of airmen (c) Fighter tactics and air combat training (d) Meteorological forecasting
→ (c) The Tactics and Air Combat Development Establishment is at Gwalior.
Q9. Who was the Chief of the Army Staff when Air Chief Marshal Dixit took over the IAF? (a) General Upendra Dwivedi (b) General Dhiraj Seth (c) General Anil Chauhan (d) General Manoj Pande
→ (b) General Seth took over on 30 June 2026 from General Upendra Dwivedi.
Q10. Headquarters Integrated Defence Staff, which Air Marshal Dixit headed as CISC, was set up in: (a) 1971 (b) 1999 (c) 2001 (d) 2020
→ (c) It followed the post-Kargil review; the Department of Military Affairs came later, with the first CDS in 2020.
📋 How this gets asked (PYQ pattern)
Defence appointments are a fixture of the NDA current-affairs section, usually in four forms.
The first is the "who is" question: the current Chief of each Service, the CDS and sometimes the Vice Chiefs. With all four posts changing in 2026, the examiner has plenty of material, and the trap is the officer who held the post a few months ago.
The second is the command-headquarters question: which IAF, Army or Navy command is headquartered where. Eastern Air Command at Shillong comes up because the new Vice Chief has just left it.
The third is the rules question: who appoints the chiefs, how long they serve, and which Article makes the President the Supreme Commander.
The fourth is the awards question: the order of the PVSM, AVSM and VSM, and the difference between peacetime and wartime awards.
At the SSB, the career of an NDA cadet who rises to command the Air Force is a good example for a lecturette or a discussion on leadership. The useful point is that both officers commanded squadrons and stations before they reached staff and joint posts.
Preparing for NDA? Keep a "who heads what" card with the CDS, the three Chiefs, their dates of taking over and the number of each in the line, and update it whenever a change is announced. Build the base with our NDA study material, follow the daily NDA current affairs, and train with serving-standard faculty in the upcoming Cavalier courses in Delhi.
Source: PIB / Ministry of Defence, "Air Marshal Inderpal Singh Walia Appointed as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff", 30 October 2026. Air Marshal Dixit's appointment (6 October 2026), career and awards, and the 2026 appointments of the CDS, Navy Chief and Army Chief cross-checked with Ministry of Defence announcements and independent reporting.
✍️ Written by Col Vijyanat Thakur — Veteran, Indian Army; SSB & defence-studies faculty at The Cavalier. Reviewed by the Cavalier Faculty Desk.