beijing china domestically develop ag600 world large amphibious aircraft perform maiden flight sunday airport shore south china sea late step military modernization program china step research advance military equipment adopt muscular approach territorial dispute place dispute south china sea rattle nerve asia-pacific region unite state state television show live image ag600 lift zhuhai airport southern province guangdong sit south china sea coast return hour late taxi stand accompany martial music greet crowd wave chinese flag xinhua news agency say aircraft protector spirit sea islands reef previously schedule make first flight early year unclear delay grind test take place april state-owned aviation industry corp china avic sasady.ul spend almost eight years develop aircraft roughly size boeing co ba.n 737 design carry marine rescue battle forest fire however state media also note potential use south china sea china vietnam malaysia philippines taiwan brunei overlap claim ag600 chief designer huang lingcai quote official china daily early month say make round trip without refuel southern island province hainan jam shoal claim china locate close sarawak malaysian borneo power four turboprop engines ag600 carry 50 people maritime search-and-rescue missions scoop 12 metric tons water within 20 second fire fight trip accord state media aircraft receive 17 order far chinese government departments chinese company maximum flight range 4,500 km 2,800 miles maximum take-off weight 53.5 tonnes use conventional airports also land take-off sea china midst massive military modernization program range test anti-satellite missiles build stealth fighters country first indigenous aircraft carrier add exist one buy ukraine world 's large amphibious aircraft make maiden flight china