New U.S. rotational combat team to start arriving in S. Korea this week
SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- A new U.S. rotational force employing the Stryker armored fighting vehicle will begin arriving in South Korea later this week for a nine-month security mission, the U.S. military said Friday.
The 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) will start coming here on Saturday to replace the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team (ABCT) that will return to the United States, according to the Eighth U.S. Army.
The replacement marks a shift from an ABCT construct to a SBCT one as Seoul and Washington are striving to sharpen deterrence against evolving North Korean military threats.
The ABCT operates M-1 Abrams tanks and M-2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, while the Stryker team uses the eight-wheeled armored vehicle, which the U.S. military says combines firepower, battlefield mobility, survivability and versatility with reduced logistics requirements.
"SBCTs provide the Korean theater of operations an expeditionary, combined arms force organized around mounted Infantry," Lt. Col. Neil Penttila, spokesperson for the Eighth Army, was quoted as saying in a press release. "They operate effectively in diverse terrain and weather conditions, while enabling greater mobility and concentration of combat power."
Existing ABCT equipment will remain in South Korea, with most of them placed in ready storage, it added.
yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
(END)
-
(Movie Review) 'Troll Factory' navigates blurred line between fake, real with anticlimactic finale
-
Police officer admits to leaking investigation report into late actor Lee Sun-kyun
-
'Parasyte: The Grey' adapts Japanese alien invasion manga to Korean setting
-
S. Korea, U.S. launch task force to block N. Korea's nuclear, missile programs
-
N. Korean leader sends condolences to Putin over Russian concert hall shooting
-
(Movie Review) 'Troll Factory' navigates blurred line between fake, real with anticlimactic finale
-
'Parasyte: The Grey' adapts Japanese alien invasion manga to Korean setting
-
Police officer admits to leaking investigation report into late actor Lee Sun-kyun
-
Congenital diseases of children born from mothers working at Samsung recognized as industrial accidents
-
N. Korean leader sends condolences to Putin over Russian concert hall shooting
-
S. Korea, U.S. launch task force to block N. Korea's nuclear, missile programs
-
Unification minister slams N. Korea's abduction, detention of S. Koreans as inhumane
-
(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S. launch task force to block N. Korea's nuclear, missile programs
-
Major hospitals in emergency mode amid huge losses over doctors' walkout
-
Seoul bus drivers go on general strike