Chief of the Air Staff is the head of the Indian Air Force.Currently the position is held by Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha.
The position was held by an Air Commodore (1919–1923), by an Air Vice-Marshal (1923–1929) and by an Air Marshal (1929–1965). In 1966, the position was upgraded to that of an Air Chief Marshal. The highest rank in the IAF is Marshal of the Air Force, which is conferred by the President of India only in exceptional circumstances. It has only been given once in January 2002 to Arjan Singh. The rank is equal to five star General and a Field Marshal in the Army.

<!– Place the above styles between the document’s tags –>

NAME	YEAR
AIR MARSHAL SIR THOMAS EMHIRST	1947 – 1950
AIR MARSHAL SIR  RONALD LVELAW CHAPNAM	1950 – 1951
AIR  MARSHAL  SIR GERALD GIBBS	1951 – 1954
AIR  MARSHAL  SIR  S. MUKHERJEE	1954 – 1960
AIR MARSHAL  A. M. ENGINEER	1960 – 1964
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL ARJUN SINGH	1964 – 1969
AIR  CHIEF MARSHAL  P. C. LAL	1969 – 1973
	1973 – 1976
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  H. MOOLGAVKAR	1976 – 1978
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  I. H. LATIF	1978 – 1981
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  L. K. KATRE	1984 – 1985
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  D.A. LA FONTAINE	1985 – 1988
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  S.K. MEHRA	1988 – 1991
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  N.C. SURI	1991 – 1993
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SWARUP KRISHAN KAWL	1993 – 1995
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL SATISH KUMAR SAREEN	1995 – 1998
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  A. Y. TIPPNIS	1998 – 2001
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  S. KRISHNA SWAMY	2001 – 2004 DEC
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  S.P. TYAGI	2005 – 2007
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  F.H. MAJOR	2007 – 2009
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  PRADEEP VASANT NAIK	2009 – 2011
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  NORMAN ANIL KUMAR BROWNE	2011 – 2013
AIR CHIEF MARSHAL  ARUP RAHA	2013 – …….