The National Guard is an interdisciplinary force. It consists of the Army, Navy and Air Force as mentioned above. The General Staff of the National Guard is the supreme hierarchical step and includes the Chief, the Staff, the Arms/Body Divisions and Organizations and its Organizational Units.
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T-80U/UK of the Cyprus National Guard on Cyprus' Independence Day (Picture source: Twitter via The Dead District)
The force heavily relies on the Reserves, making up the biggest percentage of Human Resources in the case of full mobilization of the National Guard. The Army (Land force) consists of a number of brigade formations and regular regimental groups:
• 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade
• 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade
• 3rd Support Brigade
• 4th Infantry Brigade
• 6th Mechanized Infantry Brigade
• 7th Mechanized Infantry Brigade
• 20th Armored Brigade
• Hellenic Force of Cyprus - Mechanized Group (battalion plus) Formation
• Military Police
• Special Forces Command - 1 Regiment
• Artillery Command
• Engineers Command
• Military Music Department of the National Guard
T-80U/UK of the Cyprus National Guard on Cyprus' Independence Day (Picture source: Twitter via The Dead District)
Main Battle Tanks
Besides aging Frenc-made AMX-30B2s apparently still in the inventory, 27 T-80Us and 14 T-80UKs were ordered in 1996 from Russia. The T-80Us were delivered in 1996 and the T-80UKs were delivered in 1997. In 1999, a planned order for 41 additional T-80U/UK type tanks was canceled due to political sensitivities.
In 2009, the Cyprus National Guard was to equip with a further 41 T-80U/UK type tanks from Russian suppliers, with a pre-agreement reportedly made for a further 41 tanks of the type. The deal was previously erroneously reported to consist of Russian T-90 tanks.
T-80U/UK on Cyprus' Independence Day (Picture source: Twitter via The Dead District)
