The plans of the National Guard General Staff and the Ministry of Defense for the operational plan of the National Guard place high among the priorities, the factor of speed and rapid reaction of the mechanized formations. In this regard, the means that the army will use in the future must be agile, light in weight with the necessary firepower and the ability to transport personnel to the point of final destination in the shortest possible time.
According to information from Filenews, after the visit of the Cypriot echelon to the US for an on-site examination of the US stockpiles, as well as the visit of US officials to Cyprus, a clearer picture is now formed of the US armaments that the National Guard could procure and which are estimated to contribute substantially to its operational upgrade. In this context, the NGSS and the Ministry of Defense are reportedly oriented towards submitting a request to the US for the supply of armoured wheeled personnel carriers from US stockpiles.
The Greek army had made a similar move in previous years, securing about 1,200 to 1,250 M1117 Guardian armoured security vehicles, which it is gradually receiving, without this meaning that the National Guard will receive this type of armoured vehicle, in the specific numbers.
It is recalled that Cyprus participates in three programs that offer it the possibility of acquiring weapons systems from the USA: Foreign Military Sales (FMS), Excess Defense Articles (EDA) and Title 10 Security Assistance. Nicosia is initially targeting systems that can be acquired either for free or at a very low cost. As far as cooperation within the EDA is concerned, it is in the second stage, that of implementing the acquisition of systems for which the Republic of Cyprus has expressed an interest in acquiring them.
Turning to wheeled vehicles
Within these facts and based on the morphology of the Cypriot territory, the National Guard is mainly turning to wheeled armoured vehicles and less to tracked vehicles, without, however, there being any question of abandoning the second category. This choice is associated with increased speed, survivability and lower maintenance costs.
In addition, the operational environment in Cyprus mainly concerns hard terrain and lowland areas, while local weather conditions are not conducive to the creation of extensive swampy or muddy areas, which limits the importance of this criterion in the final choice of vehicle.
At the operational level, however, the Ukrainian field highlighted another advantage of wheeled armoured vehicles. The loss of a wheel during operations does not necessarily put them out of action, and their repair can be completed much faster than in the case of a crawler damage.
In addition, there is a broader trend, stemming from the lessons of modern battlefields, with the majority of Western states opting for more wheeled than tracked vehicles to transport personnel.
