AeroVironment Hires Roy Minson as Vice President of Business Development and Deputy General Manager for Unmanned Aircraft Systems

MONROVIA, Calif., April 21, 2010 --[ASDWire]-- AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) (NASDAQ:AVAV) today announced that Roy Minson, formerly an executive with SAIC and The Boeing Company, has joined AeroVironment as vice president of business development and deputy general manager of its unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) segment.

"With nearly 30 years of broad experience in the defense and commercial markets, Roy is an experienced leader with a strong background in technology commercialization," said Tom Herring, vice president and general manager, AV UAS segment. "Roy joins AV at an important time, with broad adoption of our small UAS taking place in the U.S. Department of Defense, and significant progress occurring in our key UAS development programs, Switchblade and Global Observer. Roy brings the right set of skills and experience to help satisfy our customers' needs effectively with our innovative solutions."

Prior to joining AV, Minson was vice president and operations manager for a research and development business within the Tactical Systems and Solutions division of SAIC, where he was responsible for transitioning products and solutions. As a senior executive at Boeing, he led various business segments supporting DoD, DARPA, and government agencies, and was a key contributor to the development and capture of several large programs, including Joint Tactical Radio Systems, Future Combat Systems, Combat Survival Evader Locater, and classified programs.

Minson has a master's degree in business administration from Redlands University and a bachelor's degree in science in industrial technology from Southern Illinois University - Carbondale.

Source : AeroVironment, Inc. (The Boyer Syndicate, Inc.)