China Successfully Made Amphibious Aircraft To Overcome Karhutla

Illustration of a seaplane made in China (dock between)

JAKARTA - The Chinese Aviation Industry Company (AVIC) has successfully developed a seaplane suitable for carrying out forest and land fire suppression missions (Karhutla). The first flight of this aircraft was carried out off the coast of Qingdao City, Shandong Province, China on Sunday, July 26.

Launched Antara, the aircraft with serial number AG600 successfully completed its inaugural test flight, for 31 minutes. This success is an opening path for China to produce similar aircraft.

This seaplane is a development of the Y-20 wide-body transport aircraft and the C919 single passenger aircraft. The aircraft, named 'Kunlong', will be operated for maritime security missions and emergency tasks such as forest and land fires in Chinese territory.

Like other seaplanes, the Kunlong is capable of taking off on the surface of water and land. The AG600 is designed to operate in a variety of weather and environmental conditions.

The range of these aircraft is sufficient to efficiently transport tasks between disaster sites, such as fires and water sources. In one flight, this aircraft is capable of carrying 12 tons of water and pouring it over a land area of 4,000 square meters.

According to AVIC, apart from fire fighting and water rescue, the AG600 aircraft can be modified with more facilities to meet the specific mission requirements of its users. In fact, this aircraft is also capable of carrying out rescue missions of up to 50 people in one go.

The plan is that AVIC will facilitate the development of this aircraft for various needs. The first type of AG600 'Kunlung' aircraft will be used for fire-fighting missions and will be completed in 2023.