Aerion Corp. yesterday named Tom Vice, the former president of Northrop Grumman’s aerospace systems division, as president and COO. He will play a "leading role" in the development of the company’s AS2 supersonic business jet (SSBJ). This move comes one month after Aerion announced that former Gulfstream president Bryan Moss had joined its board of directors.

The Reno, Nevada-based company announced in December that it was partnering with GE Aviation and Lockheed Martin to develop the Mach 1.4 AS2. “As the program accelerates, it is adding management and engineering expertise to achieve first flight in 2023 and aircraft certification in 2025,” Aerion noted.

“We are pleased to attract someone of Tom’s accomplishments and experience. He is a visionary and inspiring leader, with relentless discipline and long-term focus,” said Aerion executive chairman and CEO Brian Barents, to whom Vice will report. “He strengthens our team as we transition from a focus on advanced design to a program development and production orientation.”

In his new role, Vice will be responsible for all aspects of Aerion’s AS2 design, development, certification, and customer delivery. He retired last year from Northrop Grumman’s aerospace systems unit, where he oversaw an $11 billion global advanced technology business with 23,000 employees.