Coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the partnership between Leonardo, Kawasaki Heavy Industries (KHI), and support specialist Marubeni Aerospace, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) has signed a contract to buy additional Kawasaki/Leonardo MCH-101 mine-hunters, as well as performing a mid-life update on the existing fleet.
Having acquired 10 MCH-101 helicopters, the JMSDF has begun buying more in small batches, beginning with one included in the 2022 budget. The new helicopters carry more recent avionics than does the original batch, which now will undergo an upgrade to the current standard as a mid-life update.
The MCH-101 is a version of the Leonardo AW101, which is license-built by KHI along with its three Rolls-Royce/Turbomeca RTM322 engines. It is an airborne mine countermeasures (AMCM) specialist that can tow the AQS-24A mine-hunting system with synthetic aperture sonar and an optical laser line scan sensor. KHI has also supplied the JMSDF with three CH-101 utility transports to support Japan’s Antarctic research operations. Ten MCH-101s serve with 111 Kokutai, which has operated the type from Iwakuni since 2016. They replaced Sikorsky MH-53Es in the AMCM role.