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 from short runways and even rural roads, be cheap to service, and be produced quickly in large numbers, it was ultimately determined to be inadequate for modern warfare. Weighing 3,172 kg empty, the J-12 is one of the lightest jet fighters ever built. However, neither the J-12 nor the related Shenyang J-13 project entered service.

Design and development
In 1969, the PLAAF issued an order to build a small, inexpensive, STOL (short takeoff and landing) lightweight fighter in order to replace the MiG-19. Two designs were submitted, namely the Shenyang J-11 and the Nanchang J-12. Prototypes of the J-12 were designed by Lu Xiaopeng and built by the Nanchang Aircraft Manufacturing Company (NAMC). The J-12 was a small single-seat jet fighter with low-set, swept wings, swept control surfaces, tubular fuselage, and nose intake with small or absent shock cone and flight testing began on 26 December 1970. Due to less than satisfactory performance, three additional J-12I prototypes were built with improvements such as simplified control surfaces, a lighter area ruled fuselage, and revised intake.

In 1977 the development of J-12 was abandoned, due to inadequate firepower and engine thrust and also likely due to the introduction of the Chengdu J-7, which offered superior performance and was based on the Soviet MiG-21F. In addition, the concept of aerial guerilla warfare was by this time considered to be untenable.

The J-12 prototypes had accumulated 61 hours in 135 flights by 1977. In 1990s, Lu Xiaopeng proposed upgrading the J-12's fighter design with a reduced Radar cross-section to make the J-12 stealthy, and suggested a modified J-12 fighter to a carrier based fighter for PLA Navy, but none of the proposals were accepted.

Variants

 * J-12:The initial version of the light fighter with pitot bi-furcated air intake and non-afterburning engine
 * J-12I: (aka J-12A) Improved J-12 powered by a 8929 lbf Wopen WP-6Z afterburning turbojet