Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit has been appointed as the next Vice Chief of the Indian Air Force. He takes over on July 1.Notably, he will be the senior-most officer in line when the present Air Chief Marshal AP Singh superannuates in October this year.Air Marshal Dixit, who is currently serving as the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (CISC) – a tri-services organisation under the Chief of Defence Staff — has been part of the process of jointness and setting up of the theatre commands.He was the commanding officer of the Flight Test Squadron at the Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment (ASTE) in Bengaluru.He was involved in a number of indigenous upgrades, including avionics modernisation programmes for the Jaguar and MiG-27 fighter aircraft.Later, when he was posted to the Air headquarters, he played an important role in shaping future combat capabilities of the IAF.Commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF in December, 1986, Air Marshal Dixit is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla, the Defence Services Staff College in Bangladesh and the National Defence College in New Delhi.He takes over as Vice Chief when the service is pursuing major modernisation and indigenous capability building initiatives. This includes indigenous fighter jets, helicopters, UAVs and multiple missiles and air defence systems.