[6] As outlined by the tripartite Treaty of Alliance (1960)[7] and defined by the early Constitution of 1960–1963, Cyprus was entitled to an army of 2,000 men, to be made up of 60% Greek and 40% Turkish personnel.

The force heavily relies on the Reserves (Εφεδρεία), making up the biggest percentage of Human Resources in the case of full mobilisation of the National Guard.

This force inherited some mixed equipment from its pre-civil war organisation, including 54 British-made 25-pounder gun-howitzers, 40 Marmon-Herrington Armoured Car (Mk.

[25] On 6 August 1964, the Cypriot National Guard was mobilised to intervene in the ongoing inter-ethnic confrontation at Kokkina, a Turkish-Cypriot controlled fortified enclave on the south-western edge of Morphou Bay in the north-west of the island with its commander, being General George Grivas.

For this reason, he persuaded the military government in Athens to authorise an all-out assault on Kokkina, with the aim of eliminating the beachhead, and preventing more weapons being delivered to Turkish Cypriot militia groups.

[27] As a necessity of mounting such an assault, Grivas required a naval presence off the coast of Kokkina, in order to bombard the enclave from the sea, and to prevent any other shipping from interfering.

The siege continued until 8 August during which the Turkish Government opted to intervene with air strikes, as it became clear to all parties that Kokkina's defences were likely to collapse, regardless of a UN presence in the area.

The Phaethon commenced evasive manoeuvres and put up 20mm cannon fire, but was struck in the engines by strafing rockets, napalm and going into flames, killing seven of her crew.

[34] Aware of the glaring deficiency of their military capabilities, the leadership of the Cypriot National Guard under General Georgios Grivas was able to compel the civilian Government of Cyprus, under Archbishop Makarios to seek out foreign assistance for a massive armament campaign.

Since Cyprus could not afford major weapons purchases under her own depleted national budget, Makarios was forced to dispatch an envoy on 1 October 1964 to the Soviet Union to request military assistance.

This move resulted in rapid Soviet assistance, widely regarded by Western countries as a step towards a Cold War alliance between Cyprus and Russia.

After this initial delivery, arms transfers made by the Soviet Navy to Cyprus accelerated, with freighters travelling via Alexandria in Egypt to Limassol under cover of night.

These deliveries included a full package of Soviet-made radars and radio systems to complement the structural and strategic requirements of a reinforced National Guard.

[39] A lack of spare parts meant that by the time of the 1974 military coup against Archbishop Makarios, the National Guard was experiencing severe technical difficulties with its T-34 tanks.

[40] On 15 July 1974, the Cypriot National Guard, under its own leadership and in conjunction with the EOKA-B ultra-nationalist organisation, overthrew the civilian Government of Archbishop Makarios in Nicosia[41] and attempted to assassinate him by using tanks and infantry to storm the Presidential Palace.

[43] Cypriot National Guard forces, supported by a smaller number of Greek troops, were able to prevent the loss of Nicosia (Including the International Airport which initially was successfully defended by elements of the Cyprus National Guard, later to be joined by ELDYK) and the Kato Pyrgos corridor during the second Turkish offensive, and stopped the offensive aimed at Larnaka, but were unable to support Famagusta due to lack of sufficient weaponry.

Immediately following the 1974 conflict, the Cypriot National Guard experienced a major depletion of its military capability due to lack of equipment and ammunition, compounded by the wartime economic collapse of the country.

A small armored unit of 11 surviving T-34/85 tanks continued to operate in service until circa 1985, albeit in poor mechanical condition with lack of spare parts.

[48] In the early 1980s, Cyprus sought new suppliers of arms in order to circumvent US and European embargoes, combined with an apparent unwillingness by the Soviet Union to supply further aid.

Faced with an urgent need for infantry-portable air-defense equipment, the Cypriot Government was able to procure 20 firing units of Strela-2/SA-7B Grail anti-aircraft missiles along with 324 live rounds from neighboring Syria in 1984.

A further 2 VAB-VTT armored personnel carriers were ordered as options in 1987 (delivered in 1988) along with 250 MILAN-2 anti-tank missile rounds and an unknown number of firing units (possibly 45).

[52] Of these aircraft, five examples (excluding 351) have been noted in regular use with the Cyprus National Guard airborne forces, suggesting number 351 had been withdrawn for use as spare parts, or as a technical training air frame, prior to 2004.

In 1989, the Cyprus Government ordered a batch of 35 AMX-30B2 main battle tanks and 1 AMX-30D armored recovery vehicle as part of a $115 million US dollar purchase from France.

The Mi-35s were initially supplied in an unusual matte-black (and presumably infra-red absorbent) camouflage[59] suitable for night operations, but lacked the optional FLIR turret and identification friend-or-foe systems made available for the more advanced Russian Mi-24PN.

[60] The Cypriot Mi-35 helicopters were initially equipped for the deployment of fixed-mount 30mm heavy cannon, and a capacity for 80mm (3.1 inch) S-8 rockets in AP and HE-FRAG configurations, as well as for anti-tank missiles in the 9K114 and 9M120 versions.

[61] On 5 July 2006, a National Guard Mi-35P Hind attack helicopter (serial number 822)[62] crashed[63] near the Paphos-Limassol motorway shortly after departing from Andreas Papandreou Air Base in Paphos.

[68] The vessel was refitted and modernised for the donation process and came equipped with a large helicopter pad and expanded accommodation facilities, making it suitable for use as a support ship under its new designation, A620 Alasia.

[73] The acquisition of Nora B-52 was widely reported to be part of a phased refurbishment of the Artillery Command, transitioning to a greater number of self-propelled guns and launcher systems, integrated and better networked for a more sophisticated warfighting capability.

[74] In early 2020, Cyprus signed contracts worth more than 240 million Euros to purchase French Mistral MANPADS, Exocet ASMs and a short-medium range SAM system.

All members of the Brigade wear the unit insignia depicting a winged sword, representative of the "deadly, silent and swift" nature of special forces operations.