Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1536266
At the start of the 21st century, a gradual phase‑out began in anticipation of Western fighter acquisitions: there were 48 Su‑22s in 2005, and 32 by 2012. In 2014, budget realities led to a decision to extend the service life of the 18 best‑condition jets by another ten years, buying time to select their successors (as well as replacements for MiG‑29s). Some retired Su‑22s reportedly ended up, via various intermediaries, in Vietnam; others became museum exhibits across Poland (e.g. Dęblin, Kraków, Warsaw) or were preserved by entities such as WZL2 in Bydgoszcz and Poznań University of Technology. The final 18 Su‑22s (12 M4s and 6 UM3Ks) underwent life‑extension work at WZL2 military aviation workshops in Bydgoszcz—the same facility that had handled their overhauls since the 1990s. Notable changes in this last major upgrade included recalibrating instruments to imperial units and changing paint schemes from the original earth tones camoufalge to the current standard grey; some aircraft retained special markings (a tiger motif on UM3K No. 707, a black boar on UM3K No. 305). The extra time was used by the Polish MOD to begin the Harpia program. In January 2020, through the US FMS program, Poland ordered 32 Lockheed Martin F‑35A Lightning II fighters—enough for AVIATION