S. Korea's advanced Army unit, U.S. Stryker team hold joint drills near border with N. Korea
SEOUL, Jan. 14 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's advanced Army unit armed with cutting-edge weapons has staged a joint field exercise with a Stryker Brigade Combat Team from the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division near the inter-Korean border.
The practice kicked off on Jan. 2 for a two-week run in the border city of Paju, about 30 kilometers north of Seoul, involving various weapons systems including the South Korean Army's K808 wheel-type armored vehicles, called "Baekho," the Stryker combat vehicles as well as reconnaissance drones and anti-tank missile Hyungung.
Around 800 troops from South Korea's TIGER Demonstration Brigade and the Stryker brigade, deployed here in November last year as rotational force, have been taking part in the battalion-level drills aimed at bolstering their combined operational capabilities against North Korea's military threats.
Soldiers from the South Korean Army's TIGER Demonstration Brigade and the Stryker Brigade Combat Team from the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division stage joint drills at the Mugeon-ri training ground in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Jan. 13, 2022. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
It marks their first combined training. On Friday, the allies opened to media some parts of field drills at the Mugeon-ri training ground close to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
"Through this training, (we) were able to make the Army TIGER Demonstration Brigade's operational method more concrete and verify its inter-operability with combined forces," Lt. Col. Lee Jae-yong, battalion commander of the TIGER unit, said, according to the Army.
An eight-wheeled U.S. Stryker combat vehicle rolls down a hill during a joint exercise with the South Korean Army's TIGER Demonstration Brigade at the Mugeon-ri training ground in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, on Jan. 13, 2022. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
It launched the TIGER brigade in June last year as the vanguard of a campaign to prepare for future warfare by expanding the use of cutting-edge weapons systems, such as artificial intelligence-powered drones, high-tech combat gear for soldiers and highly mobile armored fighting vehicles.
TIGER is short for the transformative innovation of ground forces enhanced by the Fourth Industrial Revolution technology.
This file photo, taken June 10, 2022, shows troops and weapon systems of the South Korean Army's TIGER Demonstration Brigade at the 25th Infantry Division's headquarters in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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