List of Air Chief Marshal of India: The current ACM of India is Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria who took office on 30 September 2019. Chief of the Air Staff or Air Chief Marshal (ACM) is the professional head and the commander of the Indian Air Force. The Indian Air Force was officially established on 8 October 1932. Its first flight came into being on 01 Apr 1933.
| No. | Name | Rank | Appointment Date | Left Office |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sir Thomas Walker Elmhirst | Air Marshal | 15 Aug 1947 | 22 Feb 1950 |
| 2 | Ronald Ivelaw Chapman | Air Marshal | 22 Feb 1950 | 09 Dec 1951 |
| 3 | Sir Gerald Ernest Gibbs | Air Marshal | 10 Dec 1951 | 31 Mar 1954 |
| 4 | Subroto Mukerjee | Air Marshal | Apr 1, 1954 | Nov 8, 1960 |
| 5 | Aspy Engineer | Air Marshal | Dec 1, 1960 | July 31, 1964 |
| 6 | Arjan Singh | The first Air Chief Marshal | Aug 1, 1964 | July 15, 1969 |
| 7 | Pratap Chandra Lal | Air Chief Marshal | July 16, 1969 | Jan 15, 1973 |
| 8 | Om Prakash Mehra | Air Chief Marshal | Jan 16, 1973 | Jan 31, 1976 |
| 9 | Hrushikesh Moolgavkar | Air Chief Marshal | Feb 1, 1976 | Aug 31, 1978 |
| 10 | Idris Latif | Air Chief Marshal | Sep 1, 1978 | Aug 31, 1981 |
| 11 | Dilbagh Singh | Air Chief Marshal | Sep 1, 1981 | Sep 4, 1984 |
| 12 | Lakshman Madhav Katre | Air Chief Marshal | Sep 4, 1984 | July 1, 1985 |
| 13 | Denis La Fontaine | Air Chief Marshal | July 3, 1985 | July 31, 1988 |
| 14 | Surinder Mehra | Air Chief Marshal | Aug 1, 1988 | July 31, 1991 |
| 15 | Nirmal Chandra Suri | Air Chief Marshal | July 31, 1991 | July 31, 1993 |
| 16 | Swaroop Kaul | Air Chief Marshal | Aug 1, 1993 | Dec 31, 1995 |
| 17 | Satish Sareen | Air Chief Marshal | Dec 31, 1995 | Dec 31, 1998 |
| 18 | Anil Tipnis | Air Chief Marshal | Dec 31, 1998 | Dec 31, 2001 |
| 19 | Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy | Air Chief Marshal | Dec 31, 2001 | Dec 31, 2004 |
| 20 | Shashindra Pal Tyagi | Air Chief Marshal | Dec 31, 2004 | Mar 31, 2007 |
| 21 | Fali Homi Major | Air Chief Marshal | Mar 31, 2007 | Mar 31, 2009 |
| 22 | Pradeep Vasant Naik | Air Chief Marshal | Mar 31, 2009 | July 31, 2011 |
| 23 | Norman Anil Kumar Browne | Air Chief Marshal | Aug 1, 2011 | Dec 31, 2013 |
| 24 | Arup Raha | Air Chief Marshal | Dec 31, 2013 | Dec 31, 2016 |
| 25. | Birender Singh Dhanoa | Air Chief Marshal | Dec 31, 2016 | 30 Sept. 2019 |
| 26. | Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria | Air Chief Marshal | 30 Sept. 2019 |
Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria PVSM AVSM VM ADC took over as the Chief of the Air Staff on 30 September 2019. An alumnus of the prestigious National Defence Academy, he graduated from the Air Force Academy with the coveted ‘Sword of Honour’ and was commissioned in the fighter stream of Indian Air Force on 15 June 1980.
He has over 4270 hours of experience on twenty-seven types of fighters as well as transport aircraft and holds the unique distinction of being an Experimental Test Pilot, a Cat ‘A’ Qualified Flying Instructor and a Pilot Attack Instructor. He completed his Masters in Defence Studies from Command and Staff College, Bangladesh.