The
Indian Air Force's rank structure is based on that of the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...
. The highest rank attainable in the Indian Air Force is
Marshal of the Indian Air Force
Marshal of the Air Force is a five star Air Officer rank and the highest attainable rank in the Indian Air Force. Marshal of the Air Force is ranked immediately above Air Chief Marshal. It is a ceremonial or wartime rank, having been awarded onl ...
, conferred by the
President of India
The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...
after exceptional service during wartime. MIAF
Arjan Singh
Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh, DFC (15 April 1919 – 16 September 2017) was a senior air officer of the Indian Air Force. He served as the 3rd Chief of the Air Staff from 1964 to 1969, leading the Air Force through the Indo- ...
was the only officer to have achieved this rank. The head of the Indian Air Force is the
Chief of the Air Staff, who holds the rank of
Air Chief Marshal. The current Chief of the Air Staff is Air Chief Marshal
Vivek Ram Chaudhari
Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari, is an air officer of the Indian Air Force. He currently serves as the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS). He took over as the 27th CAS succeeding Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Kumar Singh Bhadauria on 30 September 2 ...
, took office on 30 September 2021.
Officer ranks
The following table shows the officer rank insignia for the Indian Air Force.
The IAF rank of
pilot officer is a rank in abeyance in the Air Force and is no longer in force, all officers begin as flying officers upon commissioning.
Junior commissioned officer and non-commissioned ranks
Former ranks and rank insignia
The rank of
Pilot Officer is no longer in use; all new officers are commissioned as Flying Officers. The old warrant officer ranks and the rank of flight sergeant were replaced in 1977 by the new warrant officer ranks.
See also
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Comparative military ranks
This article is a list of various nations' armed forces ranking designations. Comparisons are made between the different systems used by nations to categorize the hierarchy of an armed force compared to another. Several of these lists mention '' ...
*
Army ranks and insignia of India
Indian Army Ranks can be broadly classified into three categories: Commissioned Officers, Junior Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks.
These ranks generally correspond with those of the British Indian Army. Traditional names for ranks are sti ...
*
Naval ranks and insignia of India
The following graphs presents the officer ranks of the Indian Navy. These ranks generally correspond with those of Western militaries, and reflect those of the British military ranks.
Officer ranks
While the provision for the rank of Admiral ...
*
Coast Guard ranks and insignia of India
*
Border Roads Organisation ranks and insignia of India
*
Paramilitary forces ranks and insignia of India
*
Police ranks and insignia of India
Gazetted officers include all the Indian Police Service officers which are Class I officers of the cadre and all State Police Services officers of and above the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police. All are arranged in a hierarchical order.
...
References
{{Indian Air Force
.
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
A
India, Air Force