AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Mitsui Bussan Aerospace, the official distributor for the AW139 medium twin helicopter in Japan, are pleased to announce that the first of two AW139 medium twin helicopters for All Nippon Helicopter (ANH) has achieved operational readiness to perform electronic news gathering (ENG) missions. ANH will conduct ENG operations exclusively for Nippon Housou Kyoukai (NHK), Japanese National Broadcasting corporation and one of the most important in this field worldwide. The selection of the AW139 by ANH marked the entrance of the AW139 into the Japanese civil helicopter market and the first AW139 for electronic news gathering operations in the world. The first aircraft was delivered to Mitsui Bussan Aerospace in March and underwent mission customization in Japan. The second AW139 has arrived in Japan with ENG provisions and it is expected to enter service early 2010 after mission customization. Graham Cole, Managing Director – Business, AgustaWestland said “We are delighted that the first ENG-configured AW139 has now entered service in Japan and we are sure the AW139 will achieve further success in this specialised role due to its class leading performance and competitive operating costs. AgustaWestland has achieved great success in the Japanese market in recent years and sees significant future business in this important market.”

Thanks to the state-of-the-art avionics, the best performance and the roomiest unobstructed cabin in the medium twin category, the AW139 will greatly increase customer’s mission effectiveness in terms of speed, range, endurance and comfort. The ANH’s AW139 is fitted with latest mission technology with a comprehensive suite of dedicated tools to operate as a real airborne live HDTV (High Definition TV) broadcasting station. Equipment includes gyro-stabilized anti-vibration HDTV camera, cabin mission console for HDTV recording, playback and live transmission, 2 x ADS (Antenna Directional System) for HDTV microwave downlink transmission (air-to-ground), DF (Direction Finder) and DFR (Direction Finding Receiver) antennas for HDTV microwave uplink transmission (ground-to-air). Aircraft configuration also features advanced solutions for maximum flight and mission safety comprising weather radar, TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System), EGPWS (Enhanced Ground Proximity Warning System) and emergency floats. The AW139 has already found success in Japan also for law enforcement and coast guard roles and AgustaWestland sees significant future business opportunities in Japan for the AW139 in both the civil and government markets. Also, the company is committed to offering the best solutions for ENG applications as an increasingly important market in Japan. With almost 120 customers from more than 40 countries having purchased almost 440 helicopters so far, the AW139 has rapidly become the helicopter of choice in the medium twin class for a number of applications including offshore transport, EMS/SAR, VIP/corporate transport, law enforcement and homeland security, utility and government purposes.

All Nippon Helicopter (ANH) is the All Nippon Airways Group company that operates electronic news gathering helicopters exclusively for NHK. Founded in 1986, ANH has 11 bases throughout Japan, from Sapporo to Okinawa, providing crew and maintenance technicians 24 hours per day on stand-by for urgent news gathering missions. Nippon Housou Kyoukai (NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation), as Japan’s sole public service broadcaster, introduced a radio service in 1925 and a television service in 1953. It operates five television channels and three radio services, providing news in 18 languages on the radio and over the internet. NHK has 54 stations across Japan and correspondents in 28 locations around the world. Digital satellite TV broadcasting introduced in December 2000 was followed by the first digital terrestrial broadcasts in December 2003.