The Victoria, Australia Police Air Wing will be adding three new Leonardo AW139 intermediate twins as part of its fleet-modernization program. The helicopters will be supplied by StarFlight and will be used for law enforcement, surveillance, and maritime search-and-rescue operations from the police air wing base at Essendon airport. They are slated to be delivered later this year from Leonardo’s Vergiate, Italy assembly plant and enter service in 2020.

Custom mission equipment to be fitted onto the aircraft includes advanced mission console, camera, wire cutter, and rescue hoist.

Nearly 120 Leonardo helicopters are currently flying in Australia. Worldwide, more than 1,100 AW139s have been ordered by some 270 customers in 70 nations. The model is widely used by law enforcement, maritime, and border patrol agencies in Italy, the UK, U.S., Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Sweden, Spain, Estonia, Netherlands, Brazil, and UAE, among others.