The Centre has appointed Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit as the next Chief of the Air Staff. He will take charge as the 29th Air Force chief on the afternoon of October 31, succeeding Air Chief Marshal Amar Preet Singh, who superannuates the same day.Dixit, 59, is presently the Vice Chief of the Air Staff. He was commissioned into the fighter stream of the Indian Air Force on December 6, 1986, and has a career spanning nearly four decades.An experimental test pilot and qualified flying instructor, he has over 3,500 hours of flying experience on aircraft including the Mirage-2000, MiG variants, Jaguar, Kiran, IL-78, Hawk and Tejas. He has served in operations including Op Safed Sagar, Op Rakshak and Op Sindoor.Dixit is widely known for promoting the indigenous LCA Tejas and is expected to strengthen the Aatmanirbharta push in the force. His tenure will run till December 31, 2028, a period when the IAF faces a shrinking fighter fleet and delays in new inductions.