Marubeni and AgustaWestland sign AW101 spares support agreement
AgustaWestland has signed an agreement with Marubeni Aerospace Corporation of Tokyo to establish a spare parts depot in Japan to support the MCH-101 and CH-101 helicopters operated by the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF).
The agreement, which includes aircraft spare parts that will be held in the new depot, was signed by Giacomo Saponaro, senior VP of AgustaWestland’s international business unit and Shigeru Ohashi, president and CEO of Marubeni Aerospace at the Paris Air Show.
This initiative will improve the availability of spare parts and reduce delivery times, enhancing the levels of local support for the customer’s fleet of helicopters. The spare parts depot has been privately funded and will operate initially for a period of five years, giving the customer rapid access too many line items to ensure maximum aircraft availability.
Following a teaming agreement signed by AgustaWestland, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Marubeni in 1994, AgustaWestland and Marubeni entered into a general consultancy and distributorship agreement in 2002 for the promotion and sales of the AW101. The first of 14 MCH-101 (airborne mine countermeasures) and CH-101 (Antarctic support) helicopters was delivered to the JMSDF in 2003.
Currently, two MCH-101 and one CH-101 are in service with the JMSDF with a second CH-101 scheduled to be delivered by the end of June 2009. Both CH-101 aircraft will be embarked upon the new JMSDF icebreaker Shirase on her first deployment to the Antarctic in November 2009.
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