AeroVironment and Eurocopter to Evaluate Potential Joint Opportunities for Expanding their Product Portfolios, Markets and Capabilities

October 23, 2013

Companies to explore creating new capabilities, expanding into new markets
Combining expertise and skills to meet future needs of respective customers

WASHINGTON, at AUSA Annual Meeting, Oct. 23, 2013 – AeroVironment, Inc., (NASDAQ: AVAV) the world’s highest volume manufacturer of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and Eurocopter, the leading global helicopter manufacturer, today announced at the Association of the United States Army annual meeting that they have signed a cooperative agreement to explore opportunities for expanding their respective military and commercial product portfolios.

“The combination of AeroVironment’s market leading unmanned technology and unique knowledge with Eurocopter’s world-class helicopter and systems expertise makes a formidable team,” said Roy Minson, senior vice president and general manager of AeroVironment’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems business segment. “This cooperative agreement creates the opportunity for both companies to explore expanding into new markets and developing new capabilities to meet future customer needs.”

“AeroVironment’s extensive operational UAS experience in delivering to end-users reliable solutions working effectively in harsh operating environments makes us uniquely positioned to understand customers’ requirements and to determine future market trends,” said Clive Schley, Eurocopter’s senior vice president, strategy and company development. “This cooperation will be particularly valuable as Eurocopter defines its unmanned product strategy, building on the success of our first unmanned flights with the EC145 helicopter this year.”

AeroVironment developed the first hand-launched unmanned aircraft for military surveillance in 1987. Since that time, the company has won every U.S. Department of Defense competition for small UAS programs of record, and has delivered more than 20,000 new and replacement small unmanned air vehicles to customers within the United States and to more than 20 international governments. The company has also integrated its secure Digital Data Link communications architecture into air, sea and land vehicles, including manned and unmanned airplanes and helicopters, to enable control of its UAS from those platforms and provide access to the information they produce.

Eurocopter offers the most comprehensive civil and military helicopter range in the world, with more than 11,780 rotorcraft in service across 148 countries. Overall, Eurocopter helicopters account for 33 percent of the worldwide civil and parapublic fleet.

The company’s expertise in system development and integration is applied across its current helicopter products to ensure their mission flexibility and operational effectiveness, with additional advances being developed for the next generation of rotorcraft that will provide new levels of performance and efficiency.

Eurocopter’s ability to integrate unmanned flight capabilities into its helicopter family was validated this year by an optionally piloted vehicle (OPV) demonstration program, which used an unmanned EC145 to fly routes that included deployment of an external sling load and a representative observation mission.

About AeroVironment, Inc. (AV)

AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) is a global leader in intelligent multi-domain robotic systems, uncrewed aircraft and ground systems, sensors, software analytics, and connectivity. Headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, AeroVironment delivers actionable intelligence so our customers can proceed with certainty. For more information, visit www.avinc.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

Certain statements in this press release may constitute "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are made on the basis of current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, economic, competitive, governmental and technological factors outside of our control, that may cause our business, strategy or actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, our ability to perform under existing contracts and obtain additional contracts; changes in the regulatory environment; the activities of competitors; failure of the markets in which we operate to grow; failure to expand into new markets; failure to develop new products or integrate new technology with current products; and general economic and business conditions in the United States and elsewhere in the world. For a further list and description of such risks and uncertainties, see the reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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Contact:
AeroVironment, Inc.
Ashley Riser
+1 (805) 520-8350
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Mark Boyer
For AeroVironment, Inc.
+1 (310) 229-5956
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