The Indian Air Force has announced the grant of honorary commissions and ranks to 417 serving and retired air warriors on the occasion of Independence Day 2026, recognising their long years of distinguished service, professionalism and contribution to the service.
The Ministry of Defence released the official lists through the Press Information Bureau (PIB) on August 14, 2026, on the eve of India’s 80th Independence Day. The announcement covers personnel being elevated to Honorary Flight Lieutenant, those receiving honorary commissions as Honorary Flying Officers, and retired personnel being granted the honorary rank of Flying Officer.
According to the official lists, 82 Master Warrant Officers who already held the rank of Honorary Flying Officer have been promoted to Honorary Flight Lieutenant. Another 328 Master Warrant Officers and Warrant Officers have been granted honorary commissions to the rank of Honorary Flying Officer. In addition, seven retired Master Warrant Officers have been granted the honorary rank of Flying Officer after retirement.
Taken together, the Independence Day 2026 announcement recognises 417 Indian Air Force personnel across the three categories.
82 Promoted to Honorary Flight Lieutenant
The first category comprises 82 Master Warrant Officers holding the honorary rank of Flying Officer who have now been promoted to Honorary Flight Lieutenant.
The list begins with MWO (HFO) Nagendra Majumdar, followed by M Vijaya Bala Sundar, Ramesh Chand, Penke Srinivas, Arbind Kumar Singh, Gottapu Ranga Rao, Yashbir Malik, Onkar Singh, Braham Parkash and Dharampal Dahiya, among others.
Other personnel figuring in the list include Suresh Kumar Jangid, Rakesh Kumar Shrivastava, Devender Singh, Ramswaroop Sharma, Bimlesh Kumar Pandey, Maha Singh Bidhan, Maheswar Nayak, Manzoor Ahmad Dar, Manoj Kalia, Jaiparkash Gulia and Ram Krishan Kaushik.
The list continues with personnel from across the Indian Air Force, including Krishna Chand Prasad, Subrata Acharjee, Pradeep Kumar, Kirpal Singh, Harish Chandra Yadav, Rajinder Singh Nain, Mahendra Singh, Mayank Bajpai, Biswajit Jana, Poorna Ram Mali, Vasudev Singh, Basharat Khan and Satinder Singh Sian.
Among those appearing later in the list are Ravinder Singh Rawat, Bapi Ghosh, Manoranjan Panda, Praveen Kumar Tyagi, Naresh Kumar Malik, Veeresh Rai, Amiya Kumar Dhal, Surender Kumar, Same Ram Hooda, Tushar Kanti Chatterjee, Brajesh Kumar Singh, Girish Kumar Jha, Subrat Ranjan Behera, Tarjinder Singh and Binod Bihari Tikadar.
The 82-member list concludes with MWO (HFO) Shiv Ram Singh and MWO (HFO) Ramesh Kumar.
Official PIB List of 82 Honorary Flight Lieutenants (PDF)
328 Personnel Commissioned as Honorary Flying Officers
The largest group in the Independence Day 2026 announcement comprises 328 Master Warrant Officers and Warrant Officers who have been granted honorary commissions to the rank of Honorary Flying Officer.
The official 16-page list begins with MWO Ratan Lal Shukla and MWO Ajaivir Singh, followed by WO Madan Lal, MWO Rajender Kumar, MWO Sanjay Kumar Dixit, MWO Brahma Nand Mishra, MWO Asit Bhattacharjee and MWO Nripendra Dwivedi.
The list reflects the wide range of senior air warriors serving across the Indian Air Force. Personnel named include MWO Harendra Singh, MWO Alok Kumar Mazumdar, MWO Gyan Prakash Upadhyay, MWO Jasbeer Singh Nagi, MWO Anil Kumar Singh, MWO Madan Kumar, MWO Suresh Kumar M P, MWO Haridwar Singh and MWO Asif Hassan.
Other names include MWO Pankaj Kumar Rastogi, MWO Manoj Kumar Rohal, MWO Muraleedharan C, MWO Kanwal Dutt Bhardwaj, WO Arun Kumar, MWO Ram Pravesh Singh, MWO Bhupinder Singh Banga, MWO Pradeep Kumar Pradhan and MWO Jayaprakasha Sahu.
The extensive list continues with hundreds of senior personnel including Master Warrant Officers and Warrant Officers from different branches and establishments of the IAF.
Among those appearing further down the list are MWO Jijo Joseph, MWO Harish Kumar Sharma, MWO Gopal Chandra Das, MWO Kuldeep Singh, MWO Satya Prakash Pandey, MWO Ratnesh Kumar Singh, MWO Dinesh Kumar Singh, MWO Pradeep Kumar Bhardwaj and WO Janak Kishor Singh.
The final section includes MWO Anil Kumar Yadav, MWO Ombir Singh, MWO Naresh Kumar Sharma, MWO Rakesh Kumar Sharma, MWO Shajee K, MWO Vikas Choudhary, MWO Debarato Nath, WO Santosh Kumar Sharma, MWO Narender Singh, MWO Virendra Kumar Audichya and several others.
The 328-member list concludes with MWO Bijan Kumar Majumdar, MWO Lalan Prasad Singh, MWO Deep Narayan, MWO Ashok Kumar Tiwari and MWO Neel Sengupta.
Official PIB List of 328 Honorary Flying Officers (PDF)
Seven Retired MWOs Granted Honorary Flying Officer Rank
A separate list released for Independence Day 2026 recognises seven retired Master Warrant Officers with the honorary rank of Flying Officer after retirement.
The seven personnel are MWO Nava Kumar Brahma (Retd), MWO Madan Lal Nagpal (Retd), MWO Raghunath Jena (Retd), MWO Pankaj Kumar Mishra (Retd), MWO Ramniwas Verma (Retd), MWO Jitendra Kumar (Retd) and MWO R Ayyappan (Retd).
The recognition of retired personnel carries particular significance as it honours their contribution to the Indian Air Force even after completion of active service.
Official PIB List of Seven Honorary Flying Officers on Retirement (PDF)
What Are Honorary Commissions in the Indian Air Force?
Honorary commissions are a longstanding military tradition through which exceptionally experienced senior airmen are recognised for their service by being granted honorary commissioned ranks.
Master Warrant Officer is the highest airmen rank in the Indian Air Force. Personnel reaching this level generally possess extensive service experience and have spent decades contributing to operational, technical, administrative, training and other responsibilities across the service.
Granting an honorary commissioned rank therefore represents significant institutional recognition of a senior air warrior’s career and contribution to the IAF.
The Independence Day and Republic Day honours provide an opportunity for the Armed Forces to recognise personnel whose sustained professionalism and dedication have contributed to the functioning and operational effectiveness of their respective services.
Independence Day 2026 IAF Honorary Ranks at a Glance
For Independence Day 2026, 82 MWOs holding the Honorary Flying Officer rank have been promoted to Honorary Flight Lieutenant, while 328 MWOs and WOs have received honorary commissions as Honorary Flying Officers. Seven retired MWOs have separately been granted the honorary rank of Flying Officer after retirement.
This brings the total number of personnel covered by the three IAF honorary rank lists to 417.
The announcement on the eve of Independence Day serves as recognition of the experience, dedication and decades of service rendered by these air warriors. While pilots and commissioned officers are often the most visible face of the Air Force, the operational capability of the IAF also rests on a vast body of highly experienced airmen working across technical, maintenance, logistics, communications, administration and numerous other specialised roles.
For the 417 serving and retired air warriors recognised on Independence Day 2026, the honorary ranks mark a prestigious culmination of years of service in the Indian Air Force and underline the service’s tradition of acknowledging the contribution of its senior personnel.
Press Information Bureau – IAF Honorary Ranks Independence Day 2026
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