Following the seize of al-Watiya airbase in summer 2014 by the Libyan National Army (or LNA), LNA Air Force technicians and engineers started working on the refurbishing of former former Su-22s. Ten to twelve of these Su-22Ms were stored in shelters before the uprising and escaped the destruction by NATO because they were decommissioned.
LNA AF Su-22UM-3K in flight over al-Watiya AB
In December 2015, first photos of an overhauled two-seaters 'Fitter', a Su-22UM-3K carrying serial number '16', were revealed on this blog. This aircraft made its first official flight on 9 February 2016 and performs regurlarly reconnaissance missions on the western part of the Libyan territory. On 8 October, some new photos appeared showing a single-seater 'Fitter' being refurbished at al-Watiya after 22 years stored in a shelter.
It seems that this Su-22M made its first flight on 27 November as the video below would show us, but no footage of the 'Fitter' in flight can be seen.
Update 30/11/2016 - New footage confirmed the first flight of LNA Su-22M over al-Watiya airbase
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