Australia will test a large air tanker for aerial firefighting early next year, during what could be a severe bushfire season.

The aircraft, either a former passenger-carrying Boeing 747 jumbo jet converted to a supertanker, or a similarly modified McDonnell Douglas DC-10, will be deployed in Victoria between January and March.

The trial will be evaluated by the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC) – which procures and manages a national aerial firefighting fleet to fight fires across Australia – with support from the Bushfire Co-operative Research Centre.

Issues of cost-effectiveness and ground infrastructure have previously prevented the use of large air tankers in Australia.

But Victoria’s emergency services minister Bob Cameron says “firefighting agencies need to determine how they’ll work in Australian conditions”.

Such large aircraft can carry eight times the cargo of smaller firefighting aircraft to deliver a line of water or retardant 30 metres wide and 1.2km long.

Victoria also plans to test a new suppressant gel as an alternative to traditional foam for firebombing.