AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is pleased to announce that the Public Security Bureau of Ordos, in China’s Inner Mongolia, has ordered two GrandNew twin-engine helicopters. The two helicopters will be used to perform fire fighting, rescue, observation, transport and civil protection duties. The GrandNew was selected, following a tender process and a comprehensive evaluation of the available helicopters. The GrandNew was chosen due to its outstanding performance and particularly its ability to operate in the demanding local environmental and weather conditions, which are characterized by strong winds, poor visibility and high summer temperatures. With this latest order AgustaWestland maintains its market leader position in China’s public security market.

Aircrew and technicians will be provided with comprehensive training and the aircraft backed by 24/7 support. This latest selection marks the entrance of the GrandNew helicopter into China’s public security market adding to the AW119Ke, AW109 Power, Grand and AW139 types that are already in service. The GrandNew features the very latest developments in avionics while retaining the Grand’s outstanding performance and features. The GrandNew is the first type certified light twin (CS/JAR/FAR 27) to enter service with a new EFIS featuring Synthetic Vision and the first helicopter in this class on the market fully compliant with the latest advanced global positioning system-based navigation requirements for all weather operations. The GrandNew offers operators unprecedented abilities to exploit the advantages of a helicopter and these features make it the most advanced solution to operate in the challenging environment of Inner Mongolia.

Orders for more than 300 helicopters from the Grand series have been placed by nearby 180 customers in over 30 countries worldwide, in order to perform many tasks also including emergency medical service, search and rescue, VIP/corporate transport, passenger transport, harbour pilot shuttle, maritime patrol, law enforcement, water pollution monitoring and electronic newsgathering.