The second largest seaplane ever built -- China's recently unveiled AVIC AG-600 -- will be put to use as military utility flying boat ferrying Chinese troops and supplies to its man-made islands in the South China Sea.

In this aspect, the AG-600 (also identified as the TA-600) will serve the same purpose as the largest seaplane ever built, the Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose," designed to take up to 750 U.S. soldiers across the Atlantic Ocean to the United Kingdom. The Spruce Goose, which was an airplane made mostly of birch, flew only once on November 2, 1947 and never flew operationally.

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On the other hand, the AG-600 only has a capacity of 50 soldiers but is the largest amphibious aircraft built since the HK-1 seven decades ago and is the size of a Boeing 737. It has a maximum range of 4,500 kilometers, enough to cover the distance from Ningbo to the Spratly Islands. Ningbo is the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army Navy's East Sea Fleet.

The AG-600 will give China the ability to more quickly reinforce the military garrisons on its man-made islands in the South China Sea. An international court of arbitration on July 12 declared China has no legal rights to claim most of the South China Sea. The same court also found China had infringed on the Philippines' territorial rights. China has unilaterally dismissed the ruling.

Beijing, however, claims the AG-600 will be used mostly for marine rescue; exploiting marine resources; environmental monitoring; resource detection and transportation and to fight "forest fires."

Built by state-owned Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), the AG-600 was unveiled on July 23 in the southern port city of Zhuhai. The seaplane will only be sold within China and AVIC said it's received 17 orders for the seaplane so far.

AVIC deputy general manager Geng Rugang described the AG-600 as "the latest breakthrough in China's aviation industry."

TagsAVIC AG-600, Hughes H-4 Hercules, Aviation Industry Corporation of China, People's Liberation Army Navy