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Poland Eyes Su-22, MiG-29 Upgrades
Oct 21, 2010
By Robert Wall
LONDON — The Polish defense ministry is evaluating upgrades to its Su-22 and MiG-29 force to sustain its fighter inventory even as it looks to field a new trainer that also would take on light fighter roles.
Decisions on the Su-22 are most acute, since the first of the aircraft will reach the end of its service life in 2014.
The near-term plan is to add 200 flight hours, or two years of operational life.
This would allow delaying a decision on what to do next until 2016, says Tadeusz Pieciukiewicz, a ministry representative.
The question then becomes whether to pursue a more extensive service-life-extension program with a major systems upgrade or scrap the aircraft first bought in the mid- to late 1980s.
The upgrade would add a databus, avionics and the ability to drop Western weapons, Pieciukiewicz tells the IQPC International Fighter 2010 conference in London.
But such a program “looks very costly,” he warns. Poland currently is reducing its Su-22 fleet to 32 units.
Also in the plan is a far more extensive upgrade of some MiG-29s to add 20 more years (or 4,000 flight hours) to one squadron of 16 fighters.
It would keep the fighter in service until 2029.
The scope of the upgrade program is still under review, although it also will have to include addressing fatigue issues that are being discovered in Russia.
A basic upgrade package would give the remaining MiG-29s the ability to carry underwing fuel tanks, adding a laser inertial navigation/GPS guidance system, a new mission computer, new radios and a multifunction color display.
A more expansive version would upgrade the radar, add a head-up display, hands-on-throttle and stick, helmet-mounted cueing system, new electronic warfare suite, two multifunction color displays, and the ability to use the same Western weapons employed on the F-16.
But these initiatives will still leave Poland below its fighter inventory target.
The country wants to maintain at least eight squadrons, but faces a gap of three squadrons if the Su-22s are retired around 2015.
To help reduce the gap by at least one squadron, the country plans to buy a new advanced jet trainer with the ability to deliver weapons such as the AIM-9, AGM-65 Maverick, Joint Direct Attack Munition and Paveway laser-guided bomb.
The aircraft, which has yet to be selected, will be delivered around 2013-15.
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