India, Oct. 6 -- Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit has been appointed as the next chief of the air staff, the professional head of the Indian Air Force. He will take over as air chief marshal on October 31, and will remain in the post until December 31, 2028.

Dixit, who took charge as vice chief of the air staff in July this year, has had a career spanning nearly four decades. A fighter pilot and experimental test pilot, he has logged more than 3,500 hours of flying on aircraft including the Mirage-2000, Jaguar, MiG variants and Tejas. He has also been associated with major operations and exercises, including Operation Safed Sagar, Operation Rakshak, Cope India and Operation Sindoor.

He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on De...