Richard Knighton

Sir Richard Knighton
Sir Richard Knighton
	Air Chief Marshal Knighton in 2023
Birth name	Richard John Knighton
Born	1969 (age 54–55)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service / branch	Royal Air Force
Years of service	1988–present
Rank	Air Chief Marshal
Commands	Chief of the Air Staff (2023–); Deputy Commander Capability (2022–2023); RAF Wittering (2009–2011);
Battles / wars	Kosovo War
Awards	Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath
Alma mater	Clare College, Cambridge (BA, engineering)
Spouse(s)	Caitlin

Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard John Knighton, KCB, ADC, FREng (born 1969) is a senior Royal Air Force (RAF) officer and professional engineer, currently serving as Chief of the Air Staff, the professional head of the RAF, since 2 June 2023. He previously served as Assistant Chief of the Air Staff from January 2015 to January 2017, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff (Financial and Military Capability) (December 2018 to May 2022) at the Ministry of Defence, and as Deputy Commander Capability at RAF Air Command. Knighton is notable for being the first Chief of the Air Staff who is not a military pilot or indeed aircrew-qualified.^[2]

^ ^a ^b Cite error: The named reference RAF-bio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Haynes, Deborah (29 March 2023). "RAF set to name non-pilot as chief for the first time in its history". News.Sky.com. Sky News. Retrieved 31 March 2023.