Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1536266
Su-22 to order more modern MiG‑29s (in the end only 12 were purchased, later supplemented by transfers from the Czech Republic and the Germany after the reunion). Ultimately, technical advances and delayed negotiations with the Soviets led to the purchase of upgraded Su‑22M4s and Su‑22UM3Ks, deliveries of which began in 1984. Budget constraints limited the total to 110 aircraft; two more arrived from West Germany in 1991. The first Poland‑USSR agreement of 1983 covered 100 jets (80 Su‑22M4 and 20 Su‑22UM3K). A further ten Su‑22M4s were bought in 1986. The Su‑22M4 featured a new navigation/targeting system and a fixed‐inlet air intake (no movable nose spike); the Su‑22UM3K two‑seater carried only one fixed 30 mm cannon and had modified elevator surfaces. Alongside the airframes, the Soviets supplied advanced air‑to‑ground armaments: Kh‑25M anti‑radiation missiles, Kh‑23 and Kh‑29 guided missiles, and a large batch of R‑60 air‑to‑air missiles. The jets could also carry conventional bombs, rocket pods, and gun pods; in the 1980s some were adapted to carry KKR‑1 reconnaissance pods (previously introduced on the Su‑20). www.fragoutmag.com