Israel Aircraft Industries' Lahav Division and Poland's WZL-2 military maintenance organisation have displayed a mock-up of the Sukhoi Su-22 Fitter upgrade in development for the Polish air force.
A contract was signed in May to develop an upgrade for the Su-22, designed to improve the aircraft's capability and make it NATO compatible. Poland joined the alliance in 1998.
Bydgoszcz-based WZL-2 says it will take six to eight months to ready the prototype for its first flight. There is a possibility that the upgrade could be cancelled by a new socialist government elected at the end of last month.
The upgrade includes cockpit and systems changes, as well as equipping the aircraft with Western weapons. The cockpit has a wide-angle head-up display and three multifunction colour displays; the present hands-on-throttle-and-stick controls have also been refined (right).
New mission and air data computers have been installed along with a GPS satellite/inertial navigation system and an Israeli datalink.
WZL and IAI are proposing to fit the aircraft with the Elta EL/M-2032 fitted in a pod installed on a fuselage station. The podded solution is required because the inlet cone is too small for the multirole radar. The adjacent fuselage station on the mock-up was fitted with a Rafael Litening targeting pod.
Poland's Prexer is responsible for the design of an adaptor enabling the Su-22 to carry Western weaponry on the current pylons. Exhibited alongside the Su-22 mock-up at the Kielce military show last month were Mk83 bombs, Saab RBS15 Mk3 anti-ship missiles, which are shortly to enter service with the Polish navy, and a range of indigenous weapons.
Source: Flight International
