A new study has revealed that while the Cypriot National Guard’s weaponry and equipment remains numerically unchanged, increasing requirements in maintenance, difficulties in replacing obsolete hardware, and other international constrains are eroding capabilities.

Specifically, US’ calling for the scrapping of Russian weapons systems from the National Guard adds extra pressure to the planners as any efforts to get rid of and replace Russian armaments that was not planned well before its implementation will be painful, costly and time consuming, according to the study’s Dr Aristos Aristotelous from the Cypriot Centre for Strategic Studies.

“On the one hand, the US calls for scrapping National Guard’s Russian weapons systems that account for more than 60 per cent of the force’s heavy weaponry while sales of Mi-35p helicopters are already underway and on the other, Nicosia’s compliance with EU’s sanctions against the Russian military industry puts Cyprus’ defence in dire straits posing extremely difficult challenges and dilemmas,” says Dr Aristotelous.

The National Guard’s personnel for 2022 numbers 9,500 in active duty and another 48,000 in reserve. Including the Hellenic Force of Cyprus (Eldyk), the total personnel figure stands at 58,450. In terms of vehicles, the National Guard numbers 294 armoured personnel carriers and 70 armoured fighting vehicles, 43 of which are the Russian BMP-3s. The National Guard also has 134 armoured tanks, of which 82 are the Russian T-80Us.

As far as air forces are concerned, Turkey has complete superiority as the Cypriot National Guard has no fighting units in these branches aside from the Russian Mi-35P attack helicopters that are currently on sale and no longer part of its fighting force. The same applies for naval forces as Cyprus only numbers a few patrol boats and Exoset missiles. It has no substantial capacity in countering the Turkish fleet or illegal activities within the Cypriot EEZ. The Cypriot National Guard’s anti-aircraft capabilities mainly rely on land to air, Russian build, Tor M-1 and Buk M1-2 systems.

The average expenditure on defence for the period 2018-2021 was €349.7 million per annum, of which 78.2 per cent related to salaries and other staff benefits, 10 per cent related to purchasing of equipment and 6 per cent related to maintenance.

According to the study, the Turkish forces in the north total 63,000 of whom 3,000 are on active duty and 26,000 in reserve Turkish Cypriots. In terms of vehicles, they number 492 armoured personnel carriers and 147 armoured fighting vehicles and 329 armoured tanks.