Shenyang J - 13 The Shenyang J - 13 was a long - running Chinese project by Shenyang Aircraft Corporation to develop a light - weight , single engine fighter aircraft , that 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 ' s ( PLAAF ) aging fleet of Shenyang J - 6 fighter jets ( the Shenyang J - 6 was a copy of the Soviet Mikoyan - Gurevich MiG - 19 ' Farmer ' ) . By 1973 airframes were being tested for their aerodynamic configuration through a wind tunnel . 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 and Nanchang J - 12 , met the J - 6 replacement project ; the lack of viable , high performance engine . Initially planning to use the WS - 9 turbofan engine ( a copy of the British 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 fighter - bomber . In August 1978 , an Egypt 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 turbojet engine 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 ' WS - 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 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 and F - 16 Fighting Falcon . The project was eventually abandoned in the early 1990s due the success of Chengdu Aircraft Industry Group ' s Chengdu J - 10 project . No prototypes of the J - 13 were ever built . 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 ' s J - 10 project . The designation J - 13 may be reused to designate production versions of the J - XX , still in development . Design details . 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 19000 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 an entirely a Chinese design , the J - 13 bore a passing resemblance to the French Dassault Mirage F1 fighter aircraft . Although never armed , the finalised design briefly outlined provisions for a cannon and at least two wingtip - mounted , PL - 5 missiles .