List of Indian Air Chief Marshal 2021

Table of Contents

Indian Air Force was founded on October 8, 1932. Also, this is the fourth largest Air Force in the world. Indian Air Force was founded with the ultimate aim of securing the Indian territories by conducting aerial patrolling and assists the other armed forces from the air at the time of warfare. Rajesh Kumar Sigh Bhaduria PVSM AVSM took over the Air Chief Marshal office on September 30, 2019, and is the Indian Air Chief Marshal 2021. Here is the list of the Indian Air Chief Marshal from the time of its foundation till date and the additional details regarding this position.

The designation “Chief of Air Marshal” was the highest rank in Indian Air Force till 1966. After that Air Chief Marshal is the head of the Indian Air Force. Marshal of the Indian Air Force is the highest rank in IAF which is conferred by the President of India under special extraordinary circumstances. Chief of Air Staff of IAF serves the same position as the rank of Field marshal in the Army and Admiral of the Fleet in the Indian Navy (Chief Of Indian Navy). This is one of the most important topics that candidates should cover for State PSC examinations and UPSC examinations.

Who is the Airforce Chief of India 2021?

Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria is the current chief of Air Marshal and he appointed the officer on September 30th, 2019 and till to date.

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List of Indian Air Chief Marshal (1947-2021)

Here is the list of Indian Air Chief Marshal from the time of Independence till date.

Serial No	Name of Officer	Designation	Tenure in the Office
1	Sir Thomas Elmhirst	Air Marshal	15 August 1947 – 23 February 1950
2	Sir Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman	Air Chief Marshal	23 February 1950 – 9 December 1951
3	Gerald Gibbs	Air Marshal	10 December 1951 – 31 March 1954
4	Subroto Mukerjee	Air Marshal	1 April 1954 – 31 March 1955
5	Aspy Engineer	Air Marshal	1 December 1960 – 31 July 1964
6	Arjan Singh	Air Chief Marshal	1 August 1964 – 15 July 1969
7	Pratap Chandra Lal	Air Chief Marshal	16 July 1969 – 15 January 1973
8	Om Prakash Mehra	Air Chief Marshal	16 January 1973 – 31 January 1976
9	Hrushikesh Moolgavkar	Air Chief Marshal	1 February 1976 – 30 August 1978
10	Idris Hasan Latif	Air Chief Marshal	1 September 1978 – 30 August 1981
11	Dilbagh Singh	Air Chief Marshal	1 September 1981 – 3 September 1984
12	Lakshman Madhav Katre	Air Chief Marshal	3 September 1984 – 1 July 1985
13	Denis La Fontaine	Air Chief Marshal	3 July 1985 – 31 July 1988
14	Surinder Mehra	Air Chief Marshal	1 August 1988 – 31 July 1991
15	Nirmal Chandra Suri	Air Chief Marshal	31 July 1991 – 31 July 1993
16	Swaroop Krishna Kaul	Air Chief Marshal	1 August 1993 – 31 December 1995
17	Satish Sareen	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 1995 – 31 December 1998
18	Anil Yashwant Tipnis	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 1998 – 31 December 2001
19	Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 2001 – 31 December 2004
20	Shashindra Pal Tyagi	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 2004 – 31 March 2007
21	Fali Homi Major	Air Chief Marshal	31 March 2007 – 31 May 2009
22	Pradeep Vasant Naik	Air Chief Marshal	31 May 2009 – 31 July 2011
23	Norman Anil Kumar Browne	Air Chief Marshal	31 July 2011 – 31 December 2013
24	Arup Raha	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 2013 – 31 December 2016
25	Birender Singh Dhanoa	Air Chief Marshal	31 December 2016 – 30 September 2019
26	Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria	Air Chief Marshal	30 September 2019 – Till Date

First Indian Air Force Chief

Subroto Mukerjee OBE is the first Indian to take over the office of the Indian Air Force Chief in Independent India. He took over the office of IAF chief on April 1, 1954, and held the position of 1 year till 31st March 1955. Subrato Mukerjee is also called the “Father of Indian Air Force”.

First Marshal of Indian Air Force

The rank of Marshal of Air Force was only awarded by the President of India to an IAF chief. Arjan Singh DFC, who served the office of Air Chief Marshal from August 1, 1964, to July 15, 1969, is the only IAF chief to achieve this exceptional position. He was the chief of IAF during the Ind0-Pakisthan war of 1965 and strategically led India to victory. In honor of this, the President of India awarded him the rank of Marshal of Air Force, which is a five-star rank equal Field Marshal of the Indian Army.

What is Indian Air Chief Marshal Salary?

The heads of Indian Defence Forces recieves the highest salary package among the defense officers. Indian Air Chief Marshal reportedly recieves an annual salary of approximately $250,000 including all the other allowances and bonuses. As per the latest reports, the monthly salary of Indian Air Chief Marshal is $3500.

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