Cyprus Air Forces - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Cyprus Air Command is the armed air wing of the National Guard. This force does not have any fixed wing combat aircraft

Military aircraft

A military aircraft is any fixed-wing or rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary armed service of any type. Military aircraft can be either combat or non-combat:...

, but is equipped with attack

Attack helicopter

An attack helicopter is a military helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the capability of engaging targets on the ground, such as enemy infantry and armored vehicles...

and anti-tank

Anti-tank warfare

Anti-tank warfare was created by the need to seek technology and tactics to destroy tanks and their supporting infantry during the First World War...

helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

s, surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

and integrated radar

Radar

Radar is an object-detection system which uses radio waves to determine the range, altitude, direction, or speed of objects. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain. The radar dish or antenna transmits pulses of radio...

systems, as well as Unmanned aerial vehicle

Unmanned aerial vehicle

An unmanned aerial vehicle , also known as a unmanned aircraft system , remotely piloted aircraft or unmanned aircraft, is a machine which functions either by the remote control of a navigator or pilot or autonomously, that is, as a self-directing entity...

s (UAV).

Current Air Force Organization

The Cyprus Air Force currently consists of two helicopter squadrons along with a UAV squadron equipped with IAI Searcher 2

IAI Searcher

|-See also:-References:This article contains material that originally came from the web article by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain....

Unmanned aerial vehicles. The Cyprus Air Force also possesses a Search and Rescue Coordination Centre, which is due to equip with its own aircraft. It should be noted that the aircraft of the Cyprus Police are maintained under a separate command structure during peacetime.

449th Antitank Helicopter Squadron (Μοίρα Αντιαρματικών Ελικοπτέρων)
450th Helicopter Squadron (Μοίρα Ελικοπτέρων)
UAV Squadron
Search & Rescue Coordination Centre (Κέντρο Συντονισμού Έρευνας – Διάσωσης)

Air Force Bases and Stations

Papandreou AFB, Paphos

The primary air base of the Cyprus Air Force, this base is located adjacent to the Paphos International Airport and is equipped with runway, taxiway, hardened aircraft shelters and integrated command, control and communication facilities. Papandreou AFB also houses a small helicopter overhaul and maintenance facility.

Lakatamia AFB, Nicosia

This is the reserve air base of the Cyprus Air Force and is located just south of the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. The base rarely hosts fixed-wing aircraft, and simply serves as a staging post for helicopters operating in and out of the Nicosia area.

Troodos Stations

The highest mountain in Cyprus hosts a number of radar and air-defence facilities. Their unit designations and deployment status are not of public knowledge.

Note: In an emergency, Cypriot military and paramilitary aircraft can operate from Paphos and Larnaca International Airports, as well as from prepared stretches of motorway that are equipped with landing zones and paved operating areas.

Current Air Force Inventory

! style="text-align: centre; background: #aacccc;"|Aircraft
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|-
| Mi-35||

||Attack Helicopter

Attack helicopter

An attack helicopter is a military helicopter with the primary role of an attack aircraft, with the capability of engaging targets on the ground, such as enemy infantry and armored vehicles...

||Mil Mi-35P "Black Panther"||11||450 Sqd 1st detachment||Paphos

Paphos

Paphos , sometimes referred to as Pafos, is a coastal city in the southwest of Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos and New Paphos. The currently inhabited city is New Paphos. It lies on the Mediterranean coast, about west of the...

|| 12 delivered, 1 lost in accident in 2006. Major upgrade planned in 2010 for the addition of night capability and self-defensive systems.
|-
| Gazelle||

||Anti-tank Helicopter||SA-342L1 Gazelle||4||449 Sqd 1st detachment||Lakatamia|| 6 ordered in 1987, 4 currently active.
|-
| Bell 206

Bell 206

The Bell 206 is a family of two-bladed, single- or twin-engine helicopters, manufactured by Bell Helicopter at its Mirabel, Quebec plant. Originally developed as the Bell YOH-4 for the United States Army's Light Observation Helicopter program, the 206 failed to be selected...

||||

||Utility Helicopter

Utility

In economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....

||Bell-206L3 Long Ranger

Bell 206

||2||449 Sqd 2nd detachment||Lakatamia|| 3 procured in 1990 (2 equipped to carry 75mm rocket pods and 1 as Government VIP version). One aircraft lost in 2002.
|-
| AW139||

||Utility Helicopter

Utility

In economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....

||AW139||3|| Search and Rescue Coordination Centre|| Paphos

Paphos

||3 aircraft on order from Agusta Westland for the CSAR role. Requested fully night capable with armour. All three arrived on March 12th 2011.
|-
| Pilatus PC-9

Pilatus PC-9

The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland.-Design and development:...

||Training Aircraft

Trainer (aircraft)

A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate in-flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristics and a simplified cockpit arrangement—allows...

||Pilatus PC-9M

Pilatus PC-9

The Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft manufactured by Pilatus Aircraft of Switzerland.-Design and development:...

||1||450 Sqd 2nd detachment||Paphos

Paphos

|| 2 procured in 1989 with armaments. 1 lost in accident in 2005.
|-
| Britten-Norman Defender

Britten-Norman Defender

|-External links:*...

||||||Utility aircraft

Utility

In economics, utility is a measure of customer satisfaction, referring to the total satisfaction received by a consumer from consuming a good or service....

||BN.2B-21 Maritime Defender

Britten-Norman Defender

|-External links:*...

||1||450 Sqd 2nd detachment||Paphos

Paphos

||Procured in 1984 with 12.7mm cannon pods, radar and target towing capability.
|-
| IAI Searcher 2

IAI Searcher

|-See also:-References:This article contains material that originally came from the web article by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain....

||||

||UAV||IAI Searcher 2

IAI Searcher

|-See also:-References:This article contains material that originally came from the web article by Greg Goebel, which exists in the Public Domain....

||2 Groups||UAV Sqd||Classified

Classified information

Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...

||Since 2002. Reported to include 2 systems, each with a group of UAVs.

Current Air-Defence Inventory

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|-
| 9M330 Tor||

||Surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

||TOR-M1||12||First batch of 6 via Greece delivered by 2000. Second batch from Russia due 2011.
|-
| Aspide-330

Selenia Aspide

The Aspide is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia . It is provided with semi-active radar-homing seeker...

||Surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

||Aspide-330

Selenia Aspide

The Aspide is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia . It is provided with semi-active radar-homing seeker...

||24||High velocity semi-active radar homing "O" ("Othello") variant with range 18km, used with four-cell TELARs in conjunction with Contraves Skyguard system. First batch of 12 in 1980s, second batch of 12 in 2006. Circa 200 missiles.
|-
| Matra Mistral||

||Surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

|| Mistral Tranche 2||30|| Supplied as "Alamo" version, self-propelled VSHORADS on all-terrain vehicle with separate radar system.
|-
| Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon

Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon

The Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon is a towed anti-aircraft gun made by Oerlikon Contraves . The system was originally designated as 2 ZLA/353 ML but this was later changed to GDF-001...

||||

||Anti-aircraft gun||GDF-005

Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon

The Oerlikon 35 mm twin cannon is a towed anti-aircraft gun made by Oerlikon Contraves . The system was originally designated as 2 ZLA/353 ML but this was later changed to GDF-001...

||30||Used in conjunction with Skyguard and Aspide systems.
|-
| M55A3||

||Anti-aircraft gun||Triple 20mm||50|| Crew-served anti-aircraft auto-cannon

Inventory Formerly Used or Embargoed

||Surface-to-air missile

Surface-to-air missile

A surface-to-air missile or ground-to-air missile is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles...

||S-300 PMU1||2|| Delivered in 1998, and then transferred to Crete (Hellenic Air Force) the same year due to political considerations.

Paphos Incident - 22nd October 2000

On 22 October 2000, TOR-M1 air-defence batteries operated by the Cyprus National Guard at Papandreou Air Base tracked a pair of Turkish warplanes detected approaching the air base by "locking-on

Missile lock-on

Missile lock-on refers to a scenario where the guidance system for a missile can accurately track a target, and a fire-control system can calculate the required flightpath for the missile to hit the target...

" to them The action of engaging the Turkish aircraft with radar forced the warplanes to retreat from the area, as Greek Cypriot and Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

forces conducted joint military manouveres in the Paphos

Paphos

region. The incident prompted an angry outburst from the Turkish Cypriot leader, Rauf Denktaş, who was reported in the media to have condemned the radar lock-on as an provacation that could lead to war.

Paphos Incident - 5th April 2002

It was variously reported in the Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

media that combat radars of the Cyprus National Guard, based at Papandreou Air Base in Paphos

Paphos

, had tracked two Turkish F-16

F-16 Fighting Falcon

The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a multirole jet fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force . Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft. Over 4,400 aircraft have been built since...

warplanes at 11am on 5 April 2002, by "locking-on" to them. The two Turkish

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

aircraft were reported to have incurred into the Nicosia

Nicosia

Nicosia from , known locally as Lefkosia , is the capital and largest city in Cyprus, as well as its main business center. Nicosia is the only divided capital in the world, with the southern and the northern portions divided by a Green Line...

Flight Information Region

In aviation a flight information region is a region of airspace with specific dimensions, in which a flight information service and an alerting service are provided. It is the largest regular division of airspace in use in the world today....

and then passed directly over the Greek Cypriot air base at an altitude of 3500 feet. Upon realising that they were being tracked, the two Turkish aircraft reportedly turned back towards Turkey, and then returned to their airbase.

Sources

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.