Cyprus Air Command

Air Command of Cyprus
Διοίκηση Αεροπορίας Κύπρου (Greek)
Cyprus Air Force emblem
Founded1964
Country Cyprus
BranchAir force
RoleAerial warfare
Size1,200 personnel
15 helicopters, 3 fixed wing aircraft, 4 unmanned aerial vehicles. On order: 2 helicopters + 4 UAVs
Part ofCypriot National Guard
Engagements2026 Iran war
Commanders
Current
commander		Βrigadier General George Alexandrou
Insignia
Roundel
Fin flash
Aircraft flown
HelicopterAirbus H145
Utility helicopterAérospatiale Gazelle, AgustaWestland AW139, Bell 206
ReconnaissanceAerostar, IAI Searcher
TransportEmbraer ERJ-135
Firefighting Aircraft: Air Tractor AT-802

The Cyprus Air Command (Greek: Διοίκηση Αεροπορίας Κύπρου, romanized: Dioikisi Aeroporias Kyprou, Turkish: Kıbrıs Hava Komutanlığı), also known as the Cyprus Air Force or Cypriot Air Force, is the armed air wing of the National Guard. This force is equipped with attack and anti-tank helicopters, surface-to-air missile systems and integrated radar systems.

History

The history of Cypriot aviation began on 16 August 1960, after it won its independence from the United Kingdom, when an Air Wing was established on the island which. It was equipped with a small number of light aircraft and mainly performed search and rescue tasks (SAR), transport of the sick, control of fires and marine pollution as well as defense and police forces on the Cypriot coast and territory.

Until 1987, the aircraft of the Cypriot aviation still operated with civilian brands, as the usual military nature of the young air force had not yet developed. In the same year, 3 light helicopters Bell 206, 4 utility helicopters Aérospatiale Gazelle and 2 intermediate trainers Pilatus PC-9.

From this moment on, the Cypriot air force began to adopt for its aircraft a camouflage livery and nationality insignia with the national flag and the cockade that follows that of Greece.

In July 2022, the Cypriot government announced that six Eurocopter EC145 helicopters would be procured from Airbus with an option for six more. These helicopters would cover the roles of reconnaissance and attack. They will be replacing the ageing Mil Mi-24 helicopters in service which are hard and costly to maintain. Turkish Cypriot authorities have called the helicopter purchase as a "provocation". The helicopters arrived in March 2025.

In March 2026, the air defenses of the Air Command were placed on alert following the strikes in Iran, working with Greek and assisting British forces in tracking aerial threats against the island including the Sovereign Base Areas where British forces failed to intercept shahed drones which impacted RAF Akrotiri.

Organisation

The Cyprus Air Force consists of two aircraft squadrons. Note that the aircraft of the Cyprus Police operate under a separate command-structure during peacetime.

Air Force bases and stations

The primary airbase of the Cyprus Air Force, this base adjacent to the Paphos International Airport has a runway, taxiway, hardened aircraft-shelters, and integrated command, control and communication facilities.
The reserve airbase of the Cyprus Air Force lay just south of the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. The base rarely hosted fixed-wing aircraft, and simply served as a staging-post for helicopters operating in and out of the Nicosia area.
The Troodos Mountains, the highest mountain range in Cyprus, hosts a number of radar and air-defense facilities. Their unit designations and deployment status are not made public.

Equipment

Aircraft

Aircraft Origin Type Photo Variant In service Notes
Fixed-wing aircraft
Embraer ERJ-135 Brazil VIP transport
EMB-135BJ 1 Donated by Greece to Cyprus in September 2022. The aircraft is used to transport the President of the Republic and other government officials.
Air Tractor AT-802 United States Firefighting
2 Transferred in February 2025 from the Department of Forests to the newly created fire-fighting unit of the National Guard. 3,1 ton water tank capacity.
Helicopters
Airbus H145 France
Germany		 Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter
H145M 5 Another 1 on order with an option to buy an additional 6. First 4 delivered in 2025. Equipped with the HForce weapons system. Carrying 12,7mm machine gun and 12 rocket pot. It may also carry Spike ER missiles in the future.
Aérospatiale Gazelle France Utility/Anti-tank
Gazelle SA 342L 4 Armed with 4 HOT Anti-tank Guided Missiles.
AgustaWestland AW139 Italy SAR/Utility
AW139 3 Used primarily for Search and Rescue (SAR) in coordination with JRCC Larnaca.
Bell 206 United States Utility/Transport
LongRanger III 2 Three acquired from Belgian source in the 1980s. One lost in crash in 2003.
Unmanned aerial vehicles
Aerostar Israel Surveillance/Recon
4 In service since 2019. +4 on order.
IAI Searcher Israel Surveillance/Recon
2
Swarmly Poseidon H-10 Cyprus Surveillance/Recon/VTOL Used by the artillery Brigade for recon and target designation. Entered service 2025.

Retired aircraft include the Mil Mi-35P.

Air defense

A Tor-M1 surface-to-air missile system
Name Origin Type Photo In service Notes
Surface-to-air missiles
Barak MX Israel Surface-to-air missile system
Possibly 2 batteries. In operation as of December 2024.
Aspide Italy Surface-to-air missile system
24 6 batteries/130 missiles. Utilized with the Skyguard system (Othellos) using Oerlikon GDF 35mm. 12 Skyguard radars.
Mistral France Man-portable air defense system
Cypriot SHORAD
Cypriot SHORAD
 30 (300 missiles) 18 Mistral MANPADS and 12 x2 Mistral ATLAS system mounted on Pinzgauer utility vehicles. More than 300 missiles. More missile on order as of June 2023.
TOR M-1 Soviet Union
Russia		 Surface-to-air missile system
6 Delivered by Greece in replacement for the S-300.~150 missiles.
Buk M1-2 Soviet Union
Russia		 Surface-to-air missile system
8 Total number of systems is unknown. Possibly 2 batteries with 4 systems each.
9K32 Strela-2 Soviet Union
Russia		 Man-portable air defense system
100 Operational numbers may be less.
9S737M Ranzhir-M Russia Mobile command center
Unknown Mobile Command Centre for the coordination of the TOR air defense network system
Anti-aircraft artillery
GDF-005  Switzerland Anti-aircraft gun
24 2x35mm anti-aircraft gun. Part of the Skyguard (Othellos) system along Aspide SAMs.
Zastava M-55 Yugoslavia Anti-aircraft gun
50 3x20mm anti-aircraft gun.

In 1998 two S-300 PMU1 systems were delivered, but then transferred to Hellenic Air Force that same year due to political considerations regarding the Cyprus Missile Crisis.

Aerial incidents between Cyprus and Turkey

Paphos Incident – 22 October 2000

On 22 October 2000, Tor-M1 air-defense batteries operated by the Cyprus National Guard at Papandreou Air Base tracked a pair of Turkish warplanes detected approaching the airbase by "locking on" to them. By Jean Christou, Cyprus Mail, 7 April 2002. The action of engaging the Turkish aircraft with radar forced the warplanes to retreat from the area, as Greek Cypriot and Greek forces conducted joint military maneuvers in the 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 a provocation that could lead to war.

Paphos Incident – 5 April 2002

It was variously reported in the Cyprus media that combat radars of the Cyprus National Guard, based at Papandreou Air Base in Paphos, had tracked two Turkish F-16 warplanes at 11am on 5 April 2002, by "locking-on" to them. The two Turkish aircraft were reported to have incurred into the Nicosia Flight Information Region and then passed directly over the Greek Cypriot airbase at an altitude of 3500 feet. Upon realizing that they were being tracked, the two Turkish aircraft turned back towards Turkey, and then returned to their airbase.

Cyprus EEZ - 18 August 2022

On 18 August 2022, Cypriot and Greek radars spotted a Turkish Navy ATR 72 whilst flying over Block 6 of the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus. According to media sources, the plane did a low pass at 4,500 feet, however a Cypriot official claimed that the plane did no such thing and remained at 29,000.

Ranks

Commissioned officer ranks

The rank insignia of commissioned officers.

Rank group General / flag officers Senior officers Junior officers
Cyprus Air Forces
Αντιπτέραρχος
Antipterarchos		 Υποπτέραρχος
Ypopterarchos		 Ταξίαρχος
Taxiarchos		 Σμήναρχος
Sminarchos		 Αντισμήναρχος
Antisminarchos		 Επισμηναγός
Episminagos		 Σμηναγός
Sminagos		 Υποσμηναγός
Yposminagos		 Ανθυποσμηναγός
Anthyposminagos

Other ranks

The rank insignia of non-commissioned officers and enlisted personnel.

Rank group Senior NCOs Junior NCOs Enlisted
Cyprus Air Forces
 Arm/corps insignia only
Ανθυπασπιστής Α΄
Anthypaspistís A'		 Ανθυπασπιστής Β΄
Anthypaspistís B'		 Ανθυπασπιστής Γ΄
Anthypaspistís C'		 Αρχισμηνίας
Archisminías		 ΣΥΠ Αρχισμηνίας
Syp Archisminías		 Επισμηνίας
Episminías		 ΣΥΠ Επισμηνίας
Syp Episminías		 Σμηνίας
Sminías		 ΣΥΠ Σμηνίας
Syp Sminías		 ΣΥΟΠ Σμηνίας
Syop Sminías		 ΣΥΟΠ Υποσμηνίας
Syop Yposminías		 Ανθυποσμηνίας
Anthyposminías		 Σμηνίτης
Sminítis

See also

References

  1. ↑ JP4 - Monthly of Aeronautica - n ° 8 year XXXIV - August 2005.
  2. ↑ "Cyprus signs deal for Airbus attack helicopters". abcnews.go.com. ABC News. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. ↑ "Airbus delivers first two H145Ms to Cyprus | Airbus". www.airbus.com. 24 March 2025. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  4. ↑ "Paphos airport returns to operation after evacuation". cyprus-mail.com. 2 March 2026. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  5. ↑ "Διαβεβαιώσεις Κυβέρνησης ότι δεν υπάρχουν αμερικανικά αεροσκάφη στην Πάφο. «Η Εθνική Φρουρά εντόπισε τα drone»". Cyprus Times (in Greek). 3 March 2026. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  6. ↑ Tomaras, Apostolos. "Σε επιφυλακή η αεράμυνα της Κύπρου". Kathimerini.com.cy (in Greek). Retrieved 4 March 2026.
  7. ↑ "Cyprus slams UK after Akrotiri drone strike forced locals to flee". POLITICO. 2 March 2026. Retrieved 4 March 2026.
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  28. ↑ "Turkey's biggest enemy acquires Israel's most powerful defense system, more dangerous than Russian S-300, the country is..." www.india.com. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
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Sources