Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. company, announced that Lisa Atherton has been named Vice President (VP), Global Military Business Development.

In this role, Atherton will lead the combined domestic and international military business development activities for Bell Helicopter. Atherton will oversee an integrated team dedicated to driving military sales to both the U.S. Government and international customers.

Previous to this role, she served as the Bell Helicopter Program Manager for the V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft. Atherton came to Bell Helicopter from Textron Systems where she served as the Vice President of Area Attack at Textron Systems, leading a team which saw increased global sales and landed several major contracts in India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Atherton is also a veteran of the U.S. Air Force.

“I strongly believe in placing the warfighter at the center of all we do, consistently meeting their high standard every single day. I am excited about the opportunity to globally expand our customer base, and provide them with combat proven, high performance aircraft,” said Atherton

Bell Helicopter, a wholly owned subsidiary of Textron Inc., is an industry-leading producer of commercial and military, manned and unmanned vertical-lift aircraft and the pioneer of the revolutionary tiltrotor aircraft. Globally recognized for world-class customer service, innovation and superior quality, Bell's global workforce serves customers flying Bell aircraft in more than 120 countries.

Textron Inc. is a multi-industry company that leverages its global network of aircraft, defense, industrial and finance businesses to provide customers with innovative solutions and services. Textron is known around the world for its powerful brands such as Bell Helicopter, Cessna, Beechcraft, Hawker, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO, Greenlee, and Textron Systems.