China's AG600 amphibious aircraft capable to perform firefighting tasks: developer

BEIJING -- China-developed AG600 large amphibious aircraft have been verified as capable of performing firefighting tasks, the aircraft developer announced Tuesday.

AG600 aircraft have completed the typical fire-fighting verification flight-test subjects, showing that the large amphibious aircraft model is capable of carrying out such missions, said the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the country's leading plane-maker.

During the first half of this year, three AG600 airplanes conducted 172 test flights, with a total of 430 flight hours, at multiple sites across China, the AVIC said.

During the test flights, the performance of the aircraft's platform and its firefighting systems were verified. The test-flight aircraft conducted the water-dropping operations involving loads of three, six and 12 tonnes of water, and verified the aircraft's performance in various operation modes, postures, speeds and altitudes.

The relevant technical indicators are in line with the design requirements of the aircraft. At this stage, the AG600 amphibious aircraft have the practical application capabilities to safely perform firefighting tasks, the AVIC said.