China's AG600 completes landmark mission, demonstrating new approach to forest fire prevention
An AG600 large amphibious firefighting aircraft is seen during a?forest firefighting mission?in the Greater Hinggan Mountains, Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province. (File photo: Xinhua)
China's domestically developed large amphibious aircraft, the AG600 Kunlong, has successfully completed its 2026 garrison mission in Jiagedaqi, Northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. As of the end of the mission, the AG600 had conducted 35 patrol flights over the forest region of the Greater Hinggan Mountains, accumulating 100 safe flight hours and dropping approximately 390 tons of water, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday, citing the Aviation Industry Corporation of China.
The aircraft concluded its deployment at the Jiagedaqi aviation forest protection base in Heilongjiang Province on September 30. The four-month mission involved aviation emergency response and firefighting operations in the forest region, comprehensively testing the emergency response and firefighting capabilities of China's domestically developed large aviation emergency rescue equipment in the complex forest environment in northern border areas, according to Xinhua.
During a practical firefighting exercise in the virgin forest areas of the Greater Hinggan Mountains, the aircraft leveraged its advantages of low-altitude, low-speed flight, large water-carrying capacity and strong maneuverability to carry out high-intensity firefighting missions, including coordinated ground-air operations and group attacks on crown fires, according to a report by CCTV News on Monday.
Going forward, the AG600 will be stationed on a regular basis for firefighting duties, creating a new model for forest fire prevention and suppression, CCTV News reported.
The AG600 is China's first large civil special-purpose aircraft developed to meet the urgent needs of the national emergency rescue system and the national natural disaster prevention and control system. It is currently the world's largest civilian amphibious aircraft by takeoff weight, according to Xinhua.
A representative of the Jiagedaqi aviation forest protection station, cited by Xinhua, said the regular deployment of the AG600 has opened up a new model for forest fire prevention and suppression, providing strong aviation equipment support for ecological conservation and disaster prevention, mitigation and relief.
"The mission verified the aircraft's reliability, adaptability, and operational performance while gathering a wealth of first-hand data. It has laid a solid foundation for the AG600's regular and large-scale deployment in multiple regions across China," the representative said.