Meet the AG600 a.k.a Kunlong ( 鲲龙 ), which is currently the largest amphibious aircraft in the world.
The AG600 development project was initiated, and officially launched on September 5, 2009, shouldering the important mission of improving the national emergency rescue system in China such as forest firefighting and maritime rescue.
16 years later, on April 20, 2025, the AG600 received its Type Certificate (TC) from the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC)
and its Production Certificate (PC) on June 11, 2025. This signifies that its design, manufacturing, and airworthiness systems fully comply with China's independent airworthiness standards, further validating its 100% domestic production status.
It's R&D involved 22 provinces and municipalities, 296 enterprises and institutions, and 16 universities across the country, forming a fully domestically produced development system characterized by "small core components and large-scale collaboration."
This aircraft that can swim, or the boat that can fly, is 38.9 meters long, 11.7 meters high, and has a wingspan of 38.8 meters.
It has a maximum takeoff weight of 60 tons, a water carrying capacity of 12 tons, and a maximum practical range of 4,500 kilometers.
It can fill up these 12 tons of water in 20 seconds, and a single water drop can cover 4,000 square meters, and has a firefighting efficiency equivalent to 300 firefighters working continuously for 2 hours.
Jóhann B. Guðmundsson