Bell Names Mary Simmerman Senior Vice President, Supplier and Material Management

August 24, 2006

Fort Worth, TX - August 24, 2006 – Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. (NYSE: TXT) company, today announced it had selected Mary Simmerman to take the newly created position of senior vice president of Supplier and Material Management. In this role she will be responsible for all aspects of Supply Chain Management, including resource allocation, inventory logistics and channels of distribution, forecasting, production planning, supply chain initiatives, and flow and processes management. She will report to John Bean, executive vice president, Integrated Operations for Bell Helicopter. Simmerman comes to Bell from Northrop Grumman Headquarters where she was vice president, Procurement.

In making the announcement, Bell Chief Executive Officer Michael Redenbaugh said, "We are extremely pleased to have Mary joining the Bell team. In the competitive world of aerospace, how a company handles its supply chain and plans for what it needs to build aircraft is critical. We build aircraft for the military. Mary's knowledge and talent will provide us the advantage we need to meet our, and their, mission requirements better than before."

He went on to explain that besides the normal supplier and materials management functions, Bell will expand the job to encompass an increased emphasis on strategic partnerships and supplier interactions, advanced technology, and global supply chain initiatives. The objective of this new position is to improve the performance of the entire supply chain, including procurement, manufacturing and distribution, and materials management, to be more responsive to customer and supplier needs and raise efficiency through better decision-making and cross-functional coordination.

Ms. Simmerman comes to Bell Helicopter with over 30 years of aerospace experience. Before her previous position at Northrop Grumman, she held numerous assignments with The Boeing Company with the most recent being vice president Supplier Management & Procurement – Space and Communications Operations at Seal Beach, California. Prior to that assignment she held numerous positions in the development of the C-17 airlifter and other increasingly responsible positions in Material Operations, Program Management, Project Management, Subcontracts Management, Business Management, Plant Management, General Procurement and Supply Chain Management with two major aerospace primes.

Bell Helicopter is an industry-leading producer of commercial and military, manned and unmanned vertical lift aircraft and the pioneer of the revolutionary tilt rotor 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 $10 billion multi-industry company operating in 33 countries with approximately 37,000 employees. The company leverages its global network of aircraft, 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 Aircraft, Jacobsen, Kautex, Lycoming, E-Z-GO and Greenlee, among others. More information is available at www.textron.com.

Connect with Textron IR

David Rosenberg, Vice President, Investor Relations
(401) 457-2288
Kyle Williams, Manager, Investor Relations
(401) 457-2288

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