Air chief marshal (Air Chf Mshl or ACM) is a 4-star air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force (RAF). The rank is also used by the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence and it is sometimes used as the English translation of an equivalent rank in countries which have a non-English air force-specific rank structure. Officers in the rank of air chief marshal typically hold very senior appointments such as the air force or armed forces commander in those nations which have significant military capability. An air chief marshal may be described generically as an "air marshal".

Air Chief Marshal is a four-star rank and has a NATO ranking code of OF-9. An Air Chief Marshal is equivalent to a "full" Admiral or a "full" General in the United Kingdom, the United States and elsewhere.

The rank of Air Chief Marshal is immediately senior to the rank of Air Marshal but subordinate to Marshal of the Royal Air Force (or other national equivalent - see Marshal of the Air Force). Although no RAF officer has been promoted to Marshal of the Royal Air Force since the British defence cuts of the 1990s, British Air Chief Marshals are not the most senior officers in the RAF as several officers continue to retain the RAF's highest rank. These officers are still to be found on the RAF's active list even though they have for all practical purposes retired. A similar situation also exists in the Indian Air Force as the honorary promotion of Arjan Singh to Marshal of the Indian Air Force in 2002 resulted in Indian Air Chief Marshals no longer being the most senior IAF officers.

The ranks of Marshal of a branch (Russian: Маршал рода войск, Marshal roda voisk) and Chief Marshal of a branch (Russian: Главный Маршал рода войск, Glavni Marshal roda voisk) were senior military ranks of the Soviet Armed Forces. Immediately above the rank "Marshal of a branch" is the rank "Chief Marshal of a branch". Both ranks are immediately above the rank "Colonel General" and equal to Soviet General of the Army. The ranks were created as an analog to Air Marshal and Air Chief Marshal, though they weren't used just in the Soviet Air Force but also in the several Soviet Army's branch commands.

The ranks of Marshal of the Aviation, Artillery and Armoured Troops branches were established on February 4, 1943 with a large, approximately 50mm wide, shoulder board star (the same star as the at-the-time equivalent rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union's shoulder board star). When the rank of Chief Marshal was established on October 27, 1943, the size of the shoulder board's stars for Marshals was made about 10mm smaller establishing the superiority of the Marshal of the Soviet Union insignia. Also, on October 27, 1943 the ranks of Marshal of the branches Engineer Troops and Signals were established. On the uniform tie, Marshals wore the marshal's star of the 2nd level.

Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Gary George Dalton, KCB, ADC (born 23 April 1954) is a senior Royal Air Force officer. As commanding officer of XIII Squadron, he deployed on Operation Jural, the UK contribution to Operation Southern Watch, enforcing the No-Fly Zone over Southern Iraq. He then moved on to high command, serving as Head of Air Operations at the Ministry of Defence during the preparations for and conduct of Operation Telic in Iraq. Most recently he was appointed Chief of the Air Staff, the professional head of the Royal Air Force, in which role he advised the British Government on the deployment of air power during the Libyan conflict. Since then he has been implementing 2,700 redundancies, as determined by the Strategic Defence and Security Review.

Dalton was educated at Clarendon Park Junior School and Lancaster School in Leicester, and then the University of Bath, where he studied Aeronautical Engineering. He was commissioned as a University Cadet on 16 September 1973, before being regraded as a pilot officer following graduation on 15 July 1976. Dalton was promoted to flying officer on 15 January 1977, and then flight lieutenant on 15 October 1977. He flew the SEPECAT Jaguar on three tours, operating from the UK and Germany in both ground attack and tactical reconnaissance roles. Dalton was promoted to squadron leader on 1 July 1984, and awarded a Queen's Commendation for Valuable Service in the 1987 New Year Honours.

Air Marshal Nur Khan (Urdu: نور خان , born Malik Nur Khan (Urdu: ملک نور خان ; ‎ February 22, 1923 – December 15, 2011) HS, HQA, SPk HJ, was a high-profile military official who represented the Pakistan Air Force as its Air Commander-in-Chief in the ruling military governments of Field Marshal Ayub Khan and General Yahya Khan from 1965 till 1971. Nur Khan was a hero of the 1965 air war as the air force general who led a smaller but better trained and equipped Pakistan Air Force to achieve parity over the Indian Air Force (which was three times the PAF's strength in numbers) from the very first day of the 1965 war. Nur Khan was widely respected, not only for his integrity but also for his sharp intelligence and outstanding management abilities that largely benefited the Pakistan's military.

Following his retirement from the PAF, Nur Khan was appointed by the military government as the Governor of West Pakistan in 1969 but soon resigned after mounting serious disagreements with the military government in 1970, and was finally forced out of the military government by President General Yahya Khan in 1971. In 1976, he joined hands with then-Prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who appointed him as President of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF); and in 1980, he became Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) after General Zia-ul-Haq requested him to take control of the country's cricket administator. He presided over both the Hockey Federation and Cricket Board until 1984, leading the Pakistani hockey team to a gold medal in the Los Angeles Olympics. In 1985, Nur Khan participated in 1985 parliamentary elections for a technocratic seat and also contested on Pakistan Peoples Party's platform on 1988 parliamentary elections but conceded his defeat that eventually led to end his short political-technocratic career once and for all.

Air Chief Marshal Mushaf Ali Mir (March 5, 1947 – February 20, 2003) was four-star general of the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) who served as the chief of air staff of the Pakistan Air Force from November 20, 2000 until his death on February 20, 2003 when the PAF Fokker F-27 in which he was traveling crashed during a routine flight near Kohat, Pakistan. He was succeeded by Air Chief Marshal Kaleem Saadat.

Mushaf Ali Mir was born in Lahore, and was one of nine children of a middle class Kashmiri family of Shia Muslim origin. His father, Farzand Ali Mir, was a calligrapher who died when Mushaf was young. He went to Government Wattan Islamia High School, Lahore.

Mir was commissioned in the PAF on January 21, 1968 in 45th GD(P) Course. He was a graduate of Flying Instructors School (FIS), and Combat Commanders School (CCS). He did his staff college course, PAF Staff College (now PAF Air War College), and his NDC course from National Defence College, Islamabad.

Mir's key command appointments include Officer Commanding, CCS Mirage Squadron; Officer Commanding, No. 33 Wing at PAF Base Minhas; Base Commander, PAF Base Sargodha (now called PAF Base Mushaf); and Air Officer Commanding, Southern Air Command.