US Air Force looks to upgrade Cyprus airbase as humanitarian staging post for the Middle East

NICOSIA, CYPRUS — 

Experts from the U.S. Air Force are looking astatine ways to upgrade Cyprus' premier aerial basal for usage arsenic a humanitarian staging station successful aboriginal operations successful the Middle East, a Cypriot authoritative told The Associated Press connected Thursday.

Cyprus, which is lone 184 kilometers from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, has acted arsenic a transit constituent for the repatriation of overseas nationals fleeing struggle successful the Middle East and beyond connected galore occasions successful the past. It has besides served arsenic a transit constituent for humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

Experts from the 435th Contingency Response Group based retired of Ramstein, Germany, volition walk the adjacent fewer days astatine Andreas Papandreou Air Force Base to measure the upgrade needed to accommodate a wide array of U.S. aerial assets and different forces.

A cardinal precedence is to guarantee aerial postulation information successful and astir the base, which abuts the island's second-largest civilian airport, the authoritative said. The base's determination makes it casual to transportation evacuees onto civilian craft astatine the adjacent airdrome for their travel home.

The authoritative spoke to the Associated Press connected information of anonymity due to the fact that he's not authorized to talk publically astir the details of the experts' visit.

Air postulation information would request to beryllium enhanced done caller high-tech installations, including state-of-the-art radar, to guarantee the autarkic cognition of civilian and subject craft astatine harmless distances.

"The Americans are precise circumstantial connected information issues and privation to marque immoderate upgrades to further amended the base's safety," the authoritative said.

Other indispensable upgrades see expanding some the basal itself and the runway to accommodate much transport and combatant aircraft. Hardened shelters to support those aerial assets are besides envisioned.

The Cyprus authorities agreed to the aerial basal upgrade appraisal pursuing the caller deployment of a U.S. Marine contingent astatine the base. The Marines, who were equipped with V-22 Osprey tiltrotor subject transport and cargo aircraft, were connected stand-by successful the lawsuit of a swift evacuation of US citizens from adjacent Lebanon during Israel's strikes against Hezbollah targets precocious past year.

Deputy authorities spokesperson Yannis Antoniou told the authorities broadcaster Thursday that immoderate usage of the basal by the forces of the U.S. oregon different nations would necessitate anterior Cyprus authorities approval. He insisted the aerial basal would not enactment arsenic a guardant basal for subject onslaught operations against targets successful the region.

"We've shown involvement successful moving with (US. Forces) due to the fact that we see this to service the captious interests of the Cyprus Republic," Antoniou said, adding that successful their report, the USAF experts volition connection an estimation of the upgrade costs and which percent of those the US authorities would beryllium consenting to cover.

Bilateral relations betwixt European Union subordinate Cyprus and the U.S., particularly successful presumption of subject cooperation, person grown importantly implicit the past fewer years pursuing a pledge by Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides to affirm the ethnically divided country's "clear Western orientation."

A manifestation of those ties was past week's directive by erstwhile President Joe Biden that allows Cyprus to bargain arms from the U.S. authorities and get surplus American subject equipment.

The Cypriot authorities noted the improvement arsenic a tangible acknowledgment of Cyprus' reliability arsenic a U.S. spouse successful the region.