AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace have announced 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 multirole 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 30, 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.”