China builds ‘world’s largest’ amphibious aircraft

First prototype of the AG600 by Aviation Industry Corporation rolled of the production line in July 2016

Chinese state aircraft manufacturer Aviation Industry Corporation of China has completed production of a massive amphibious aircraft that it plans to use to fight forest fires and perform marine rescue missions.

The AG600 rolled off a production line in the southern city of Zhuha in July 2016.

The aircraft has a maximum take-off weight of 53.5 tonnes, a maximum cruising speed of 500km/h, a maximum flight range of 4,500km, and a maximum endurance of 12 hours, according to state aircraft maker the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC).

The 37-meter-long AG600 with a wingspan of 38.8m is by far the world's largest amphibian aircraft”, about the size of a Boeing 737, according to AVIC deputy general manager Geng Ruguang.

In addition to taking off and landing like an ordinary plane, the AG600 can also take off and land from stretches of water that are at least 1,500m long, 200m wide and 2.5 meters deep.

It will become part of China's resources for dealing with emergencies. According to the original design, it can collect 12 tonnes of water in 20 seconds, and transport up to 370 tonnes of water on a single tank of fuel.

Said to have “excellent maneuverability and a relatively wide range of search scope”, the AG600 is capable of rescuing up to 50 people far offshore.

It will also be useful in developing and exploiting marine resources, said AVIC, capable of conducting marine environmental monitoring, resource detection and transportation.

The amphibious aircraft is the result of nearly seven years of work by a group of 70 aircraft component manufacturers and research teams with more than 150 institutes from 20 provinces and municipalities in China. The development and production of the plane received government approval in 2009.

"The AG600 is like a ship that can fly, with advanced gas-water dynamic engineering and underwater corrosion resistance technology," said Huang Lingcai, chief designer of the plane.

According to the AVIC, the AG600 will mainly target the domestic market. Seventeen orders have been placed so far.