New Delhi : Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit took over as the Vice Chief of Air Staff on Monday. The Air Marshal is a Qualified Flying Instructor as well as an Experimental Test Pilot. He also has experience of flying various types of aircraft like MiG-21, MiG-29 and Mirage-2000. Ashutosh Dixit has been a part of the Air Force for the last 23 years. In her career so far, Dixit has logged over 3200 hours of flying on more than 20 types of aircraft. He has participated in Operation Safed Sagar and Rakshak.
An alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Air Marshal Dixit was commissioned into the Fighter Stream on 06 December 1986. He is a graduate of Staff Course, Bangladesh and National Defence College, New Delhi. Air Marshal Dixit commanded the Mirage-2000 Squadron, a frontline fighter base in the Western Sector, which is also the premier fighter training base of the Air Force. He has previously served as Principal Director Air Staff Requirements, Assistant Chief of the Air Staff (Projects) and Assistant Chief of Air Staff (Plans) at Air Headquarters.
The air officer has also been the Air Defence Commander of the Southern Air Command and was the senior Air Force officer at the South Western Air Command in Gandhinagar, Gujarat before taking over as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff. He will be in charge of modernization of the Airforce. As Deputy Chief, he will oversee new purchases in the Indian Air Force and acquisitions to be made for service under emergency powers. Dikshit has been part of the modernization and ‘self-reliant India’ campaign in the Indian Air Force during his earlier tenure at the headquarters.