AeroVironment Hires Milancy Harris as Vice President and Chief Security Officer

ARLINGTON, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AeroVironment, Inc. (“AV”) (NASDAQ: AVAV) today announced that Milancy Harris has joined the company as Vice President and Chief Security Officer (CSO). In this role, Harris will lead AV’s integrated, enterprise-wide security strategy—strengthening the company’s ability to protect its people, programs, technologies, and customers across a rapidly expanding mission portfolio.

“Milancy brings extraordinary experience, clear strategic vision, and deep integrity to our organization,” said Wahid Nawabi, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer at AV. “Her leadership will ensure AV operates with the highest standards of trust and resilience while empowering our teams to innovate boldly and deliver critical capabilities for those we serve.”

Harris joins AV following a distinguished career across the U.S. Government and the private sector. She most recently served as the Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security (USD(I&S)), where she oversaw the Department’s intelligence, counterintelligence, security, and law enforcement missions after serving as the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security. Prior to those roles, she served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Irregular Warfare and Counterterrorism where she led policymaking related to irregular warfare, counterterrorism, and the use of special operations forces.

Harris began her career as an all-source analyst at the Defense Intelligence Agency before serving in senior roles at the National Counterterrorism Center, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and National Security Council focused on intelligence analysis, counterterrorism operations, and national security policy. In the private sector, she was responsible for operationalizing Meta’s Oversight Board, serving as its first Chief of Staff, and helping stand up an independent global organization that set new standards for transparency, accountability, and institutional design.

“AV’s mission sits at the intersection of innovation, national security, and public trust,” said Harris. “I am honored to join a team that is delivering critical capabilities to our warfighters and government partners. Protecting AV’s people, programs, and technologies is essential to that mission, and I look forward to building a security organization that enables the company to grow, innovate, and serve with excellence.”

About AV

AV (NASDAQ: AVAV) is a defense technology leader delivering integrated capabilities across air, land, sea, space, and cyber. The Company develops and deploys autonomous systems, loitering munitions, counter-UAS technologies, space-based platforms, directed energy systems, and cyber and electronic warfare capabilities—built to meet the mission needs of today’s warfighter and tomorrow’s conflicts. At the core of these technologies lies AV_Halo, a modular, mission-ready suite of AI-powered software tools that empowers warfighters and enables full-battlefield dominance: detect, decide, deliver. With a national manufacturing footprint and a deep innovation pipeline, AV delivers proven systems and future-defining capabilities at speed, scale, and operational relevance. For more information, visit www.avinc.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially. Factors that may cause such differences include, but are not limited to, our ability to perform under existing contracts and obtain new ones; regulatory changes; competitor activities; market growth; product development challenges; and general economic conditions. For a more detailed discussion of these risks, please refer to AV’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.