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.