A Look at the US Army’s New Capabilities in Korea

American soldiers training in South Korea

With the heat on the Korean Peninsula increasing daily as the North Korean regime continues to shut down hotlines with the government in the South, while threatening the United States with rocket and missile strikes, it might be time to re-up a story Defense News ran a few months back about U.S. Army modernizations plans in South Korea.

Last fall, American commanders began a rapid modernization effort for the 2nd Infantry Division, 8th Army stationed in South Korea – a plan that included MRAPs, upgraded Bradley fighting vehicles, and state of the art networking equipment.

As we reported in August, the 2nd Infantry Division

“…was the first unit to receive the latest survivability upgrades to the Bradley fighting vehicle, as well as the first — even before those in Afghanistan — to be issued the new Force Battle Command Brigade-and-Below/Blue Force Tracking equipment. About 1,000 vehicles will be outfitted with the new capability, which gives soldiers greater situational awareness and network connectivity. The division also has been issued Abrams M1A2 Systems Enhancement Program tanks and has been upgrading about 300 Humvees.

It’s also significant that the 2nd ID will be the first non-Afghanistan fielded unit to receive the Army’s much-touted Capability Set 13, a suite of the latest communication, situational awareness and vehicle-mounted networking gear. They are all tied together by a new network that allows dismounted soldiers to push data to higher headquarters while on the move.

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Paul McLeary

McLeary covers national security policies at the White House, Pentagon, the Hill, and State Department.
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