Air Chief Marshal AP Singh has flown his last fighter sortie as Chief of the Air Staff, taking up an indigenous Tejas, the aircraft he once flight tested, to close a flying career of nearly 42 years.

The sortie was flown during Exercise Tarang Shakti 2026 at Jodhpur, with aircraft from friendly foreign air forces and the Suryakiran Aerobatic Team in company. He superannuates on 31 October.

"Once a fighter pilot. Always a fighter pilot," the Indian Air Force said of the flight.


From west Delhi to the fighter stream

He was born in Delhi on 27 October 1964 and grew up in a middle-class family in west Delhi, schooling in Janakpuri. After the National Defence Academy, he was commissioned into the fighter stream of the IAF on 21 December 1984.

Later courses took him through the Defence Services Staff College and the National Defence College.

He would go on to become the fourth Sikh officer to lead the service, after Marshal of the Air Force Arjan Singh, Air Chief Marshal Dilbagh Singh and Air Chief Marshal BS Dhanoa.

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh and the Tejas

Few chiefs have known an aircraft as closely. As Project Director (Flight Test) at the National Flight Test Centre, he was tasked with flight testing the Light Combat Aircraft, Tejas, in its development years. Before that, as a test pilot, he led the MiG-29 Upgrade Project Management Team in Moscow.

He is a Qualified Flying Instructor and an Experimental Test Pilot, with more than 5,000 hours on fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft.

The aircraft stayed with him. On 9 September 2024, as Vice Chief of the Air Staff, he led a Tejas formation over Jodhpur at the first Tarang Shakti, with the Army and Navy Vice Chiefs following in twin seat trainers. It was the first time the Vice Chiefs of all three services flew the Tejas together. Three weeks later he took over the IAF, and the type he had tested is now in series production as the Tejas Mk1A.

Squadron, air base and three commands

He commanded an operational fighter squadron and a frontline air base along the borders. He served as Air Defence Commander at South Western Air Command in Ahmedabad and as Senior Air Staff Officer at Eastern Air Command in Shillong, then headed Central Air Command at Prayagraj as Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief.

On 1 February 2023 he became the 47th Vice Chief of the Air Staff.

Operation Sindoor and the Air Chief's tenure

Air Chief Marshal AP Singh took over as the 28th Chief of the Air Staff on 30 September 2024, succeeding Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari. Seven months later, he led the IAF through Operation Sindoor.

In August 2025 he said the IAF had shot down five Pakistani fighters and one large aircraft during the operation, the large aircraft at a range of around 300 km. The S-400 air defence system accounted for the kills, and he called the 300 km shot the longest recorded surface-to-air kill.

At his last Air Force Day address at Hindan on 8 October, he returned to the speed with which the operation was carried out, and to readiness over hardware.

Every brick made in India

Indigenisation was the thread of his tenure, and he set the test at the level of the whole supply chain rather than final assembly. Speaking at an IAF and industry workshop in New Delhi in July, he warned that technology delayed is technology denied.

"Every brick should be developed in India. Then only we can say that we are fully indigenous," he said.

At his final annual press conference on 3 October, he said the IAF needs 36 to 40 new aircraft a year and sought a decision on an India-made fighter engine. The Tarang Shakti 2026 edition he oversaw drew seven friendly foreign countries flying air assets to Jodhpur, according to the Ministry of Defence, with the US F-35 training alongside the IAF for the first time.

Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, the Vice Chief of the Air Staff, takes over as the 29th Chief of the Air Staff on the afternoon of 31 October.