JAKARTA - The United States of America (USFK) troops on Friday, March 24 stated that they had carried out the first training for the deployment of the High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system. The training is in South Korea (South Korea).
The US military published a set of training photos on Sunday, hours after North Korean state media reported the country was conducting exercises involving underwater attack drones and cruise missile launches earlier this week.
"Our training of the THAAD troops increases the readiness of unitary combat, a joint defense posture within the alliance, demonstrating a strong commitment to supporting and defending the ROK and further strengthening security and stability on the Korean Peninsula," USFK said in a press release.
ROK stands for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
The exercise coincided with the South-US Freedom Shield regular exercise which lasted for 11 days and ended on Thursday (23/3).
The use of long-range launchers is in line with the US military upgrade program designed to streamline and integrate the THAAD and Patriot missile defense systems into one program for advanced and more flexible security operations.
The drills were carried out as the Seoul Administration pushed for "normalization" of the THAAD battery in Seongju, 217 kilometers southeast of Seoul, which has "temporary" installation status pending an assessment of its impact on the environment.
"Normalization of operations and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense capabilities provides USFK with greater readiness to ensure sustainable unitary resources, and provides greater opportunities to modify defense designs using long-range launch options," USFK said.
Meanwhile, the South Korean and US Air Force conducted air fire exercises in the Yellow Sea from Monday to Friday, in connection with FS exercises, officials in South Korea said.
South Korea deployed F-35A, F-15Ks, KF-16s, F-16s and F-4Es radar evaders, while the US deployed A-10 fighter aircraft.
The F-35A jet fired AIM-9X and AIM-120 air-to-air missiles as well as air-to-ground bombs, GBU -31, while the A-10 aircraft launched AGM 65 and GBU-31 air-to-ground missiles and the GBU-38 bombings.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
