2014-04-02 14:42:17
18 Polish Su-22 aircrafts remain in service for the next 10 years
Polish Ministry of National Defense confirmed the Sukhoi Su-22M4 and Su-22UM3K aircrafts will remain in the service. In the 21st Tactical Air Base in Swidwin there are two squadrons of aircrafts of this type with full-time staff 32 Su-22 (26 Su-22M4 attack-bomber and 6 Su-22UM3K trainer planes).
18 aircrafts - 12 single-seat Su-22M4 and 6 two-seater Su-22UM3K will continue the service for the next ten years. photo: Lukasz Pacholski/Dziennik Zbrojny
According to the announcements from the previous weeks, the decision concerning the service and the number of aircrafts was to be made by the half of March 2014. Recently, there was an announcement that after the year 2015 in the base in Swidwin, 18 aircrafts - 12 single-seat Su-22M4 and 6 two-seater Su-22UM3K will continue the service for the next ten years.
Operational duty of all Su-22 will be conducted according to the technical condition, and the Polish Air Force and WZL-2 (military aviation plant) in Bydgoszcz have been already preparing for this. Equipping them for the future years of service will involve only the exchange of radio stations on models with step 8.33 kHz (European requirement). Perhaps another "modification" will scale units on the Anglo-Saxon (nodes and feet), and descriptions on the machine will also be in English. Such a procedure is to allow freely cooperate with other aircrafts of the Air Force and NATO. The cost of works is estimated at about 5 million PLN per plane (about 1,2 milion euro). The works will be done especially in Bydgoszcz WZL-2 with the participation of other companies of the national defense (eg WZL No. 4 will deal with engines).
The infrastructure of the airport in Swidwin will be modernized, also in terms of its use by the aircrafts of NATO 's allies.
In the years 1984-1988, Poland received 90 Su-22M4 and 20 Su-22UM3K aircrafts. For thirty years of service, the Su-22 planes were never modernized. More important change was the installation of a GPS receiver which allowed for more precise attacking ground targets with conventional bombs (CEP about 50 meters). The problem for the next 10 years of service Sukhoi's are small stocks the guided weapons (Poland have only about 260 missiles H-25 and H-29).
Dziennik Zbrojny
