Fitter farewell

The Sukhoi Su-22 bows out of Polish service

By Stephan de Bruijn30 September 2025

After 41 years of service, the Siły Powietrzne RP (Air Forces of the Polish Republic) recently bid farewell to an iconic Cold War fighter: the Sukhoi Su-22, better known perhaps under its NATO reporting name Fitter.

The Su-22 is an export variant of the Soviet Su-17 swing-wing fighter-bomber, itself developed in the 1960s from the old Su-7 with its sharply swept wing. Back in its Warsaw Pact days, Poland started to operate the Su-22 in August 1984. The Polish air force acquired a total of ninety single-seat Su-22M4s and twenty dual-seat Su-22UM-3Ks from the Soviet Union, thus becoming by far the largest operator of the swing-wing Fitter outside Russia.

After Poland joined NATO in 1999, the Su-22s were slightly modernised and modified to conform to NATO standards, receiving some new avionics, new VHF/UHF radio equipment, a GPS (Global Positioning System) and NATO IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) systems. In the reorganised Polish air force, the Fitters were assigned to four tactical air squadrons: the 6. and 7. Eskadra Lotnictwa Taktycznego at Powidz, the 8. ELT at Mirosławiec, and the 39. and 40. ELT at Świdwin.

Retirement postponed

When Poland took delivery of the F-16C/D, the old Cold War jets were increasingly concentrated at the 21. Baza Lotnictwa Taktycznego (BLT), Świdwin. They were facing retirement already by 2012, but the decommissioning date was pushed back several times. In 2014, when the Polish air force still operated 32 Su-22s, it was decided to keep eighteen of these jets – twelve M4s and six UM-3Ks – in service. These eighteen aircraft went through a Service Life Extension Program (SLEP) job at Bydgoszcz from late 2014, in order to be able to continue their task as defensive and offensive low-level ground support aircraft, with a secondary reconnaissance mission, for another ten years. They were also employed as 'Red Air' aggressor aircraft, and for launching aerial targets during exercises of air and ground forces both in Poland and abroad. With the SLEP, the Fitters changed camouflage schemes – from their fine dark three-tone green camouflage jacket to a modern two-tone grey paint scheme.

In 2022, Poland ordered the Korean Aerospace FA-50 jet trainer and light attack aircraft to replace the ageing Su-22s. As the FA-50s were introduced in Świdwin, the Su-22 moved to their final homebase in Mirosławiec. During their final years of operations from there, the impressively noisy and brutish-looking Sukhois shared their homebase with small, silent Bayraktar TB2 unmanned aerial vehicles, manufactured in Turkey. Still in service over 30 years after the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, the Su-22 was clearly a rugged and reliable aircraft. Much of its electronic systems are still of 1980s vintage, however, and no longer viable in the current war arena.

The end

The fighter-bomber remained in active service until 11 September 2025, when some twelve aircraft were still operational. Eight Su-22s were seen on a media day on the 10th. The curtain finally fell during a small ceremony at Mirosławiec on 11 September.

On both days, there was still a flurry of flight activity. In the morning of the 10th, three two-seaters, painted in special colour schemes, made a formation flight which took them over locations related to the Polish Su-22 operations, such as Powidz, Piła, Świdwin and Mirosławiec.

Later that day, a single-seater, equipped with a secretive KRR-1TE reconnaissance pod, took off on a regular mission. Whether this mission was related to the previous day's downing of several Russian drones over eastern Poland is not known. The KKR-1TE pod was classified right until the Su-22's final days, and could only rarely be observed and photographed.

The withdrawal of the Su-22s does not necessarily mean that they will fly no more. It was claimed by officers at Świdwin that some may keep flying as a reserve force. What this actually means is that they would be kept airworthy for a possible sale, with unconfirmed reports saying that they will go to Vietnam. The Vietnamese air force is supposedly close to retiring its Su-22 fleet due to spares shortages. With the Polish airframes, Vietnam might be able to carry on with the type.

The Fitter is still not the last Soviet-era jet in the Polish air force, as some fourteen MiG-29s remain in service. It is understood that Poland is willing to transfer its last MiG-29 to Ukraine, but only after the introduction of 32 F-35A Lightning IIs from 2026 onwards. The Polish air force will then have a modern fast jet force of F-35s and F-16C/D Fighting Falcons (47 of which will be modified to Block 70/72 standard), augmented by the KAI FA-50 Golden Eagles.

As for the Su-22, it was once operated in Europe by Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia (later Czechia and Slovakia), East Germany, Hungary, and Ukraine, but their aircraft were all retired years ago. Remaining operators are certainly Angola, Iran (with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and Vietnam. Some may also remain in Libya and Syria, while Yemen also still had Fitters recently, but it seems likely that most were destroyed by recent Israeli attacks.