The Japan National Police Agency has ordered another Agusta Westland AW139 medium twin helicopter, which is scheduled to enter service in 2015 for operations in Kagoshima Prefecture. AgustaWestland and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace announced the sale here at ABACE on Tuesday, noting that the new AW139 will replace an ageing Bell 412 in the police fleet.

More than 40 AgustaWestland helicopters are currently performing law enforcement activities throughout various Japanese prefectures. Along with the AW139 there are also AW109, GrandNew and AW101 models being operated throughout the country. According to AgustaWestland, the AW139 has already been used successfully for various critical missions in Japan including search and rescue, firefighting and disaster relief.

The AW139 joins the AW169 and AW189 models as part of the AgustaWestland family of new-generation helicopters, which share similar flight characteristics, safety features and cockpit layout. The company believes that this commonality will allow for more effective operations for its customers who operate helicopter fleets across multiple weight categories.