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The Shenyang J-13 (Chinese: 歼-13; traditional: 殲-13) was a long-running Chinese project by
Shenyang Aircraft Corporation Shenyang Aircraft Corporation (SAC) is a Chinese aircraft manufacturer in Shenyang, Liaoning and a subsidiary of AVIC. Founded in 1951 as the classified 112 Factory, it is the oldest aircraft manufacturer in the People's Republic of China. The ...
to develop a light-weight, single engine
fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...
, which was ultimately cancelled.


Development

As early as 1971, Shenyang Aircraft Corporation's 601 Institute had been designing a replacement for the
People's Liberation Army Air Force The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...
's (PLAAF) aging fleet of
Shenyang J-6 The Shenyang J-6 (wikt:歼, Chinese: 歼-6; designated F-6 for export versions; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is the Chinese version of the Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, MiG-19 'Farmer' fighter, the world's first mass-produced supersonic airc ...
fighter jets (the Shenyang J-6 was a copy of the
Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 (; NATO reporting name: Farmer) is a Soviet second generation, single-seat, twinjet fighter aircraft. It was the first Soviet production aircraft capable of supersonic speeds in level flight. A comparable U.S. " Cen ...
'Farmer'). By 1973 airframes were being tested for their aerodynamic configuration through a
wind tunnel A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...
. In 1974, the PLAAF formally proposed the development of a replacement for the Shenyang J-6 for the 1980s by a light-weight air-superiority fighter aircraft capable of achieving speeds of up to Mach 2.0. In the same year, testing was done on twenty different wing configurations. In 1976, testing on the material and the selection of electronics and avionic equipment to be used for the airframe were undertaken. Seven different airframes were tested in total. As progress on the airframe continued, a constant problem that had arisen in similar Chinese fighter aircraft projects, such as the
Chengdu J-9 The Chengdu J-9 ( Chinese: 歼-9) was an interceptor aircraft that was cancelled during development in the People's Republic of China (PRC). It was proposed in 1964 by the 601 Institute (Shenyang) as a higher-performing alternative to the Sheny ...
and
Nanchang J-12 The Nanchang J-12 ( Chinese: 歼-12) was a lightweight supersonic fighter built by the People's Republic of China, intended for use by the People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF). Intended to be a modern jet fighter which could take off fro ...
, met the J-6 replacement project; the lack of viable, high-performance engine. Initially planning to use the WS-9
turbofan engine A turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a combination of references to the preceding generation engine technology of the turbojet and the additional fan stag ...
(a copy of the
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
Rolls-Royce Spey Mk. 202 engine), setbacks in its development led to initial testing with the WS-6 turbofan engine (which was capable of providing 12,200 kg of thrust). The WS-9 (9,300 kg of thrust) was finally completed by 1980 but would prove to be unable to properly power a single-engine fighter and would later go on to power the twin-engine
Xian JH-7 The Xi'an JH-7 ( zh, s=歼轰-7, t=殲轟-7, hp=jiān hōng qī – fighter-bomber; NATO reporting name Flounder), also known as the FBC-1 (Fighter/Bomber China-1) Flying Leopard, is a Chinese tandem two-seat, twin-engine fighter-bomber in ser ...
fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...
. In August 1978, an
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23MS 'Flogger-E' was sent to the 601 Institute and by March 1979 an order to reverse engineer the MiG-23's
Tumansky R-29 The Tumansky R-29 is a Soviet turbojet aircraft engine that was developed in the early 1970s. It is generally described as being in the "third generation" of Soviet gas turbine engines which are characterized by high thrust-to-weight ratios and ...
turbojet engine The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, an ...
was placed for use by the project, which by the late 1970s had finalised its design and officially been allocated the designation J-13. The Chinese R-29 copy, called the 'WP-15' (capable of 12,500 kg of wet thrust), like the earlier WS-6 engine, proved to be underwhelming. Delays caused by engine problems, and the success of Shenyang's redesigned
Shenyang J-8II The Shenyang J-8 (Simplified Chinese characters, Chinese: 歼-8; NATO reporting name: Finback) is a family of interceptor aircraft developed by the Shenyang Aircraft Design Institute, 601 Institute (Shenyang) in the People's Republic of China ( ...
caused funding to be severely cut by 1981. The project was technically not cancelled outright though but placed on low-priority. A new list of operational requirements for the J-13 were set in the late 1980s. These requirements were, for the J-13 be able to combat other, newly introduced fighters such as the
Mikoyan MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the MiG-29, along with the larger Suk ...
and
F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is an American single-engine supersonic Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superio ...
. The project was eventually abandoned in the early 1990s due to the success of
Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group AVIC Chengdu Aircraft Industrial (Group) Co., Ltd., traditionally and more commonly known as Chengdu Aircraft Corporation (CAC), a subsidiary of AVIC, is a Chinese aerospace conglomerate that designs and manufactures combat aircraft and aircr ...
's
Chengdu J-10 The Chengdu J-10 Vigorous Dragon (; NATO reporting name: Firebird) is a Chinese medium-weight, single-engine, multirole combat aircraft using a delta wing and canard design, with a maximum speed of Mach 1.8. It is produced by the Chengdu Aircr ...
project. From the various aerodynamic tests on the seven different airframes, one airframe in particular the J-13V was later incorporated into the further development of
Chengdu Chengdu; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: ; Chinese postal romanization, previously Romanization of Chinese, romanized as Chengtu. is the capital city of the Chinese province of Sichuan. With a ...
's J-10 project.


Design

The J-13 was to be a single-engine, single-seat, light-weight, indigenously developed, air-superiority fighter. The J-13's finalised design was a cantilever winged fighter with fuselage side-mounted air intakes. The airframe was designed for high speed and high-altitude interception with limited secondary air-to-ground capabilities, the J-13 possessed a service ceiling of over 19,000 metres, a maximum speed of Mach 2.45 and a climb rate of 254 m/s (50,000 ft/min). The maximum range has been stated to be 2340 km and a maximum overload of +9Gs. Although never armed, the finalised design briefly outlined provisions for a cannon and at least two wingtip-mounted, PL-5 missiles.


Specifications


See also


References


External links

{{PRC fighters Abandoned military aircraft projects of China J-13 Mid-wing aircraft Single-engined jet aircraft Aircraft with retractable tricycle landing gear Fourth-generation jet fighters