AgustaWestland Will Deliver A Total Of Seven Of The Medium Twin Helos To Japanese Law Enforcement

The Japan National Police Agency (JNPA) has signed contracts with AgustaWestland for three AW139 medium twin helicopters, the company announced Wednesday in conjunction with Mitsui Bussan Aerospace. These helicopters will be used by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police, Nagaono Prefectural Police and Hokkaido Prefectural Police to perform multi-role law enforcement missions. The helicopters will enter operational service with their prefectures in Spring 2013. These latest orders bring the number of medium twin-engine law enforcement helicopters ordered for Japan to seven, and follows recent orders by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Agency and JNPA, who will deploy the AW139 to both the Chiba and Osaka Prefectural Police.

“We are proud to have been selected by the Japanese Government and the JNPA in particular for another three AW139 helicopters," said AgustaWestland’s Head of Region, NE Asia, Andrew Symonds. "The AW139 is ideally suited to provide capability across the JNPA’s range of demanding mission requirements. This order further strengthens AgustaWestland’s relationship with the JNPA, building upon the established success of the AW109 Power. These orders bring the number of AW139 helicopters ordered by customers in Japan to over thirty, a remarkable number for a helicopter that has only been in service for a short period of time, and strongly confirms the AW139’s position as the most advanced mission capable helicopter available today in the medium twin class.”

All three Prefecture’s AW139’s will feature a comprehensive mission-dedicated fit including , weather radar, search light, cargo hook, rescue hoist, fast roping and  rappelling system, loudspeaker system, main rotor blade high visibility painting and snow pads. The advanced avionics systems selected include a side mounted Cineflex T14 camera,  which is  customized in Japan, the state of the art Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) capable GPS, Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) and the Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System (EGPWS). The AW139 offers superior safety levels in the law enforcement role due to its class leading performance, outstanding one engine inoperative capabilities, system redundancy and superior levels of crashworthiness.

This contract further strengthens the presence of the AW139 in the Japanese helicopter market where over thirty helicopters have been ordered by customers including the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Japan Coast Guard, All Nippon Helicopter (NHK), Kansai TV, Japan National Police Agency, Saitama Prefecture, Fire and Disaster Management Agency and Hiroshima Prefecture.

FMI: www.agustawestland.com