[Yang Nak-gyu's Defence photo] South Korea and US Conduct First Joint Artillery Drill of the New Year

From the 29th of last month, South Korea and the United States conducted their first joint combined arms live-fire exercise of the new year for a week. While artillery firing drills were held at the front lines from the beginning of the year and the Navy conducted maritime maneuver exercises across the East, West, and South Seas, the ROK-US joint exercises were simultaneously launched in multiple locations.

According to the Army, the exercise held at the Pocheon Promotion Training Center in Gyeonggi Province involved the Army’s Capital Mechanized Infantry Division’s Thunder Brigade, the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division, and the ROK-US Combined Division’s Stryker Brigade. The combined combat battalion was formed by the division’s armored, artillery, engineering, chemical, biological, radiological, and air defense units, along with one battalion under the Stryker Brigade, with the participation of the U.S. Forces Korea’s 604th Aviation Support Battalion. A total of about 110 pieces of equipment were deployed, including K1A2 tanks, K200 armored vehicles, K600 obstacle clearance vehicles, K30 Biho self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, AVLB (Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge), KM9 ACE (armored combat bulldozer), as well as U.S. equipment such as A-10 attack aircraft and Stryker armored vehicles.

The training began with precision strikes by the U.S. Air Force A-10 attack aircraft, known as the "tank killer," followed by firing exercises with the Biho self-propelled anti-aircraft system and K1A2 tanks, overcoming complex obstacle zones, and a transcendent attack by the U.S. Stryker armored vehicles. Bombing by air assets and integrated tank and air defense firing were conducted simultaneously. The Biho system is a weapon system that enhances engagement capability by combining up to four Shingung surface-to-air guided missiles with the 30mm self-propelled anti-aircraft gun "Biho." The Biho system mounted on tracked vehicles is deployed to destroy low-altitude infiltrating North Korean drones and AN-2 aircraft.