China has greenlighted the mass production of a homegrown amphibious aircraft that is the world’s largest.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China on Wednesday certified the AG600 plane for production, paving the way for its entry into the commercial market, according to state broadcaster CCTV.
China has developed the AG600 as part of a drive to modernise its military, amid a more muscular approach to territorial disputes in places like the South China Sea.
The AG600 “Kunlong” aircraft boasts capabilities of low-altitude and low-speed performance, high efficiency in firefighting and rescue operations, stable takeoff and landing on water along with a domestically developed support system, Global Times reported.
The aircraft, roughly the size of a Boeing 737, was designed to carry out marine rescues and battle forest fires. It has a range of up to 4,500km and is designed to be able to take off and land in 2m waves.
Powered by four turboprop engines, the AG600 can carry 50 people during maritime search-and-rescue missions and scoop up 12 metric tonnes of water within 20 seconds for firefighting trips, according to state media.
State-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China said the production approval was a milestone towards a “more high-end and standardised” aviation manufacturing sector.
It added that the approval “strengthened China’s ability to independently build a complete civil aviation ecosystem”.
Wang Huafeng, an official with the Jilin provincial department of emergency management, told reporters that the prototype was tested for aerial fire suppression over Changbai mountain.
“The trial run has shown to us that the seaplane is good at emergency-response tasks,” he said. “Its service is a big help to us in terms of grassland and forest fire control.”
The AG600 is expected to greatly improve the responsiveness and efficiency of forest fire rescue efforts, said Ye Junwei, director of the Zhejiang emergency management air rescue centre.
The first batch of the AG600 completed its production test flight in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong province, in May this year. The aircraft completed a 12-tonne water drop test, flying in the air for 17 minutes before landing smoothly, state media reported.
The development of AG600 began in September 2009, just three months after the Chinese government had approved the programme. The aircraft’s prototype construction began in March 2014 and was completed in two years before its debut take-off and landing in 2017 at Zhuhai.
The aircraft completed its first sea-based test flight over the Yellow Sea in 2020.
