China's AG600 amphibious aircraft begins firefighting capacity testing

China's locally developed AG600 large amphibious aircraft has entered a new flight test phase targeting its firefighting capacities, its developer announced Thursday. 

The AG600 aircraft on Thursday completed the first flight test of its aerial water-dropping functions in Jingmen, central China's Hubei Province, according to the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC). 

It marked a major step forward in the development of the large amphibious aircraft model, which is of great importance to the country in strengthening its natural disaster prevention and emergency rescue capacities. 

The aircraft performed well during the test of its water-dropping capabilities, which is one of the key functions of the amphibious aircraft model. 

It is expected that the AG600 aircraft will conduct flight tests dropping water over fire sites before the end of the year, the AVIC said.