Commander of the skies | Who is Air Marshal AK Bharti? IAF's architect behind Operation Sindoor

Air Marshal Awadhesh Kumar Bharti is a decorated officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF), who is presently serving as the Director General Air Operations (DGAO) in Air Headquarters in New Delhi.

Commissioned into the fighter branch on 13 June 1987, he has had a successful and eventful career based on operational competence, combat aviation leadership, and command assignments in strategy.

Air Marshal AK Bharti was commissioned into the IAF's flying branch in 1987. He is a fighter combat leader and a postgraduate of the Defence Services Staff College (DSSC) and the National Defence College (NDC).

A stellar career

He led a Sukhoi-30 MKI squadron from August 2005 to September 2007, where he was instrumental in operationalising the weapon systems of the aircraft and developing tactics. The squadron, under his command, was involved in major exercises such as Gagan Shakti, Indradhanush 2006 (with the Royal Air Force), and Garuda 2007 (with the French Air Force).

Air Marshal AK Bharti has also served in a number of significant staff assignments, including Joint Director of Air Defence Operations at Air HQ, Principal Director (operations, information and electronic warfare), and Chief Staff Officer (air vector strategy) at the Strategic Forces Command.

He was the Senior Air Staff Officer at Central Air Command and Assistant Chief of Air Staff, Ops Offensive, prior to taking up his present assignment as Director General Air Operations in October 2024.

Bharti was conferred with the Vayu Sena Medal in 2008 for outstanding commitment to duty, specifically for his role in operationalising the Sukhoi-30 MKI squadron and improving its combat effectiveness. He was awardedCAS Commendation in 1997 by the Chief of Air Staff for work devotion. Besides this, he has also been awardedAccident-Free Flying and was awarded 'Three Stars' for accident-free flying, which indicates outstanding performance.

After a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam on April 22, 2025, where 26 innocent lives were lost,the Indian Armed Forces launchedOperation Sindoor, an integrated military action against terrorist camps and military facilities in Pakistan.

As the DGAO, Air Marshal Bharti was at the forefront of planning and conducting precision air strikes. He attested that the IAF effectively targeted strategic locations, such as terrorist training camps in Bahawalpur and Muridke, and Pakistani air bases like Chaklala, Rafiq, and Rahim Yar Khan.