China unveils world’s largest seaplane.

The world’s largest seaplane rolled off a production line in China at the weekend, beefing up the country’s strategic reach to islands it claims in the South China Sea. While not ruling out military uses, state news agency Xinhua said the amphibious aircraft, which is the size of Boeing 737, would be deployed to “fight forest fires and perform marine rescue missions”. State-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China, which designed and produced the seaplane, had 17 orders so far, Xinhua added, noting that the aircraft would be “very useful in developing and exploiting marine resources”.

The AG600, which boasts four turboprop engines and a hulking body with a keel down the centre of the plane’s belly, could also be used for “environmental monitoring, resource detection and transportation”, Xinhua said. The article said the AG600 has a range of 4,500km — a distance that comfortably covers much of the western Pacific Ocean from China’s coast, and as far as the northern shores of Australia.
According to Chinese media reports, the aircraft is capable of carrying 12 tonnes of water for dousing forest fires, and could rescue up to 50 shipwreck victims at a time.