AIRCRAFT - AG600M Kunlong test progress / AG600 amphibious aircraft expected to enter market in 2025

An AG600M firefighting aircraft drops water during a gathering and dropping water test in Jingmen, central China's Hubei Province, Sept. 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

Crew members of an AG600M firefighting aircraft disembark from the plane after a gathering and dropping water test in Jingmen, central China's Hubei Province, Sept. 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Wu Zhizun)

The arrival of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) AG600M Kunlong amphibious aircraft prototype at the National Civil Aircraft Test Flight Base in Pucheng in Shaanxi province in 2023 marks the next step of the flight test programme of this amphibious aircraft project.

Few people will realise that already nine aircraft were built by China Aviation Industry General Aircraft (CAIGA) at Zhuhai airport. The first batch however is already somewhere around the scrap heap as the design had to be refined after the first flight of AG600 B-002A on 24 December 2017.

Currently four AG600Ms, registrations B-0DCC, B-0HEH , B-0AWT, and B-0FAS, are in the flight test programme. To find more details on these aircraft look at the Scramble Soviet database and search for type AG600.

A major part of the tests has taken place at Zhanghe airport, from where many watertests were performed at the Zhanghe reservoir. The aircraft is designed for aerial firefighting duties and is able to drop 12.000 litres of water, equivalent to the Beriev Be-200.

Because it is an amphibious aircraft, other roles are conceivable, but these have not yet been officially provided.

The Civil Aircraft Flight Test Base opened its facilities last year on the new Pucheng airfield that is about 35 km away from the famous military aircraft test base CFTE at Xi’an Yanliang.

Credit photo: National Civil Aircraft Test Flight