Awadhesh Kumar Bharti

Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, SYSM, AVSM,VM is a serving air officer of the Indian Air Force. He is the currently serving as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff.^[2] He was previously serving as the Director General of Air Operations,^[3] prior to that he was Senior Air Staff Officer, Central Air Command.^[4]

He was born in Purnia district of Bihar.^[5] His father is Jiwachh Lal Yadav, a retired govt personnel of Kosi Project and his mother is Urmila Devi.^[6] He is an alumnus of Sainik School, Tilaiya.^[7] He then attended the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla and the Air Force Academy, Dundigal. He was awarded the President’s Silver Medal at the National Defence Academy and was awarded the Sword of Honour for standing first in overall merit in his course at the Air Force Academy. He is also an alumnus of the Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the National Defence College, New Delhi. ^[8] During his NDA days, Air Marshal Bharti was nicknamed ‘Galloping Horse’, as his cross country record there remained unbroken for many years.^[9]

The Air Marshal was commissioned as a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force on 13 June 1987 from the Air Force Academy. In a career spanning over three decades, he has more than 4000 hours of flying experience across various fighter jets and has held numerous field & staff appointments. He is a highly experienced fighter pilot and has flown different types of aircraft like MIG-21, MIG-29 , SU-30MKI, SU-30MKM. He has led and also been a part of many IAF air exercises viz COPE India 2004, Exercise Garuda, Exercise Indradanush on foreign soils.^[10] He has been the Flight Commander of No. 24 Squadron and Commanding Officer of No. 30 Squadron.^[11] He was awarded with three stars for accident-free flying. The Air Marshal's operational tenures include being the Commanding Officer of a fighter squadron in the Southern Sector. His staff appointments include Air Attaché with Royal Malaysian Air Force where he trained the Malaysian Fighter Pilots on SU-30 MKM.

As an Air Vice Marshal, he served as the Chief Staff Officer (Air Vector Strategy) in Strategic Forces Command and later as Assistant Chief of Staff, Offensive Operations at Air Force Headquarters.^[12]

After being promoted to the rank of Air Marshal, he was appointed as the Senior Air Staff Officer, Central Air Command. A year later, on 3 October 2024, he assumed the appointment of Director General Air Operations from Air Marshal Surat Singh.^[3] As the Director General of Air Operations,he played a key role in India's Operation Sindoor. On 1 June 2025, Air Marshal Bharti took over as the Deputy Chief of the Air Staff succeeding Air Marshal Tejinder Singh.^[13]

During his career, the air marshal has been awarded the Sarvottam Yudh Seva Medal on Independence Day 2025,^[14] the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2024^[15] and the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008.^[16] He has also received commendations from the Chief of Air Staff.