Vice Chief of the Air Staff (India)
Deputy to the Chief of the Air Staff of India
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Through War, Peace and Indian independence movement
The present VCAS is Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit who assumed the office on 1 July 2026.
History
At the time of independence of India on 15 August 1947, Air Commodore Subroto Mukerjee was appointed Deputy Air Commander, Royal Indian Air Force, in addition to being Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO) at the newly-formed Air HQ. On 15 November the same year, he was promoted to the acting rank of Air Vice Marshal.
In 1949, the RIAF was reorganised and the post was re-designated Deputy Chief of the Air Staff (DCAS). The DCAS continued to be the Deputy Air Commander. On 1 January 1963, the post of Vice Chief of the Air Staff was created and became the second-highest post of the Indian Air Force.
The office of VCAS was first held by Air Vice Marshal Diwan Atma Ram Nanda. The appointment was then in the two-star rank of air vice marshal. On 15 January 1966, the office was raised to the three-star rank of Air Marshal and Pratap Chandra Lal was promoted to the rank.
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Order of Precedence
The VCAS ranks at No. 23 on the Indian order of precedence, along with the Vice Chiefs of the Indian Army and Indian Navy and the Army Commanders (GOC-in-C), Naval Commanders (FOC-in-C) and Air Commanders (AOC-in-C).
The VCAS is at the Apex Pay grade (Grade 17), with a monthly pay of ₹225,000 (US$3,200).
Appointment
The Vice Chief of Air staff is appointed by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister, from among the senior general officers of the Air Force. Since the appointment is of Commander-in-Chief grade, the appointees are usually one of the Air Commanders of the six operational commands.
Unlike the Chief of Air Staff, there is no fixed term nor term limit to the position of the VCAS, although most of those appointed to the office have typically served for one or two year tenures and serve until the age of 60.
Appointees
The following table chronicles the appointees to the office of the Vice Chief of the Air Staff.