Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, a skilled fighter pilot with a flying experience over 3,300 hours on more than 20 types of aircraft, took over as the head of the Integrated Defense Staff (CISC) on Thursday, which is considered an important post in the headquarters of the Integrated Defense Staff.
He will replace Lieutenant General JP Mathew who retired on Wednesday. Before taking charge, Air Marshal Dixit paid floral tributes at the National War Memorial and paid tribute to the martyred soldiers.
In his specific career of nearly four decades, Air Marshal has served in various commands, staff and instructional positions and has been awarded the Ati Specific Service Medal, Special Service Medal and Air Force Medal for his services.
Air Marshal Dixit was serving as Commanding-in-Chief of Central Air Command, before taking charge of CISC. He focused on increasing operational readiness in North India and Central Region and promoting coordination with other services.
Air Marshal was appointed to the fighter branch of the Indian Air Force on 6 December 1986. They are National Defense Academy, Khadakwasla; Defense Service Staff College (Bangladesh) and National Defense College, New Delhi are alumni.
He is a qualified flight instructor and practical testing pilot, who has more than 3,300 hours of flight experience on more than 20 types of aircraft including Mirage-20,000, MiG-21 and Jaguar.
According to the Ministry of Defense, Air Marshal Dixit also commanded a major fighter training base in the southern sector, where the base was considered the best in the command due to his leadership.
As a test pilot and later aircraft and system test establishments, as Commanding Officer of Flight Testing Squadron in Bangalore, he was involved in several indigenous upgradation and development programs including Avionics upgrade for Jaguar and MiG-27.