The design of the SAM-13 followed similar principles to that of the Fokker D.XXIII: to build a lightweight twin-engined fighter with benign single-engined flying characteristics.

[1] The SAM-13 was built largely from wood, with steel fittings in high stress areas and welded steel-tube engine mounts.

It was powered by two 220 hp (160 kW) Voronezh MV-6 6-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted in-line engines mounted at the front and rear of the fuselage nacelle, driving 2-bladed, variable pitch propellers.

[1] Armament of the SAM-13 was intended to be 4x 7.62 mm (0.30 in) ShKAS machine-guns: two in the fuselage top decking firing through the propeller disc, and one at each end of the wing centre-section.

[1] First flown in 1940 by Nikolay D Fikson, the SAM-13 proved difficult to handle, requiring long runs to take off and land, with poor climb performance and low ceiling.