Japan National Police Agency Orders Three AW139 Helicopters

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace are pleased to announce that the Japan National Police Agency (JNPA) has signed contracts for three AW139 medium twin helicopters. 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.

AgustaWestland’s Head of Region, NE Asia, Andrew Symonds said “We are proud to have been selected by the Japanese Government and the JNPA in particular for another three AW139 helicopters. 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.” The AW139 was chosen by the customer after a rigorous and comprehensive evaluation to ensure it could meet its demanding mission and safety requirements. 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. With orders for over 560 units in more than 50 countries from almost 160 customers and 400 units already in service, the AW139 is the best selling medium twin helicopter in the world. Many of the world’s leading law enforcement, maritime patrol and disaster relief operators have now selected or are already operating the AW139 in the USA, Canada, Italy, Republic of Korea, China, Malaysia and Australia.

AgustaWestland's success in the Japanese helicopter market continues to grow with strong sales in recent years across its complete commercial product range. AgustaWestland opened a new regional business headquarters in Tokyo in 2008 in support of its growing business in Japan. The helicopter fleet in Japan is also supported by three official service centres which provide maintenance and repair services, confirming AgustaWestland’s commitment to current and future rotorcraft requirements in Japan.


Source: www.agustawestland.com (07/09/2011)

Photo: Japan National Police Agency AW139 Helicopter

(8.09.2011)