China’s Own Amphibious Aircraft Finally Ready to Fly

China’s domestically developed AG600 — billed as the world’s largest amphibious aircraft — is slated to take its maiden flight before the end of this year after months of delays, company executives said.

The aircraft could take its first flight over land this year and then another over water in 2018 now that technical challenges have been overcome, said Huang Lingcai, assistant to the CEO of the state-owned China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Co., the AG600’s manufacturer.

The aircraft — unveiled in July 2016 in the southern city of Zhuhai, Guangdong province — had been scheduled to make its first test flight in May, according to an earlier report by the official Xinhua News Agency.

The AG600, which is around the size of a Boeing 737, has a maximum flight range of 4,500 kilometers (2,796 miles). It can be used to fight forest fires, perform marine rescues and participate in military operations.

In recent years, China has been upgrading its military hardware due to ongoing territorial disputes with several countries over the South China Sea.

“AG600 could meet the demands for medium- to long-range patrols on a daily basis to safeguard the country’s maritime rights,” said Huang, who is also the aircraft’s chief designer.

The AG600 is the latest aircraft China has developed domestically as the country seeks to grow its own aviation sector and reduce dependence on — and even challenge — foreign aircraft giants such as Airbus SAS of France and Boeing Co. of the United States.

China’s first homegrown passenger jet, the C919 — a product of the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China — took its maiden flight earlier this year.

The AG600 has received 17 expressions of interest for orders — all from domestic customers. The C919 has received 730 orders as of September.

In November, China reached an agreement with the European Union to recognize each other’s aircraft product-safety systems. The move came one month after the country reached a similar deal with the the U.S.

Contact reporter Mo Yelin (yelinmo@caixin.com)