In a significant move, US representatives in Cyprus have asked the government whether they would be willing to transfer the country's Russian-made weapons to Ukraine.
The request was received positively by President Nicos Anastasiades who gave the go-ahead for further discussions to be done quickly. This would mean that Cyprus will no longer remain neutral in the war, as is usually the case.
According to a New York Times report from last Friday, the Biden administration asked its allies, countries that were former members of the USSR, to help transfer Soviet-made tanks from its own arsenals, which Ukrainian troops know how to use. It marks the first time in the war that the United States has helped transfer tanks.
Kathimerini's sources stated that the Americans specifically asked for Cypriot anti-aircraft weapons as well as attack helicopters. Of particular interest are two types of anti-aircraft systems, the TOR/M1 (purchased from GR) which deploys the S-300 missile system and BUK M-2, including T-80u and BMP3 as well as the MI-35 helicopter.
Consequently, if weapons from the Cypriot armed forces are to be deployed to Ukraine they will be replaced with corresponding American weaponry.
PPN13 on April 4th, 2022 at 18:01 UTC »
Up to this date Cyprus has been under a de-facto embargo in regards to US military equipment. That's why they have relatively modern Russian stuff as well as some French stuff.
Taking into account the missile crisis with Turkey where Cyprus had to cede their S-300s to Greece they should be careful about giving away what they got before getting replacements and they should secure some kind of guarantee of future support of the replacements.
Perhaps getting EU made gear where possible would help as France was willing to sell to Cyprus in the past.
Hackerpcs on April 4th, 2022 at 16:17 UTC »
About the S-300, when Cyprus purchased the S-300 missiles in 1997, it was a big crisis because it threatened Turkish air superiority in the area with Turks threatening to invade and/or destroy them preemptively and the missiles instead went to Crete, Greece where they are located and operate till today. So it's more of being transfered from Greece, not Cyprus
AccurateSource2 on April 4th, 2022 at 14:15 UTC »
!!! "Kathimerini's sources stated that the Americans specifically asked for Cypriot anti-aircraft weapons as well as attack helicopters. Of particular interest are two types of anti-aircraft systems, the TOR/M1 (purchased from GR) which deploys the S-300 missile system and BUK M-2, including T-80u and BMP3 as well as the MI-35 helicopter."