Considering Canada may make tech changes to the military, I read this article from Stratfor. It suggests one way the Americans are in one region and will it have any influence/bearing/?? on Canadian military evolution? There‘s a password on the article so I posted it below.
USFK Upgrade Aims Beyond Korea
Jun 02, 2003
www.stratfor.com
Summary
U.S. and South Korean defense officials have announced an $11 billion, three-year force enhancement program for U.S. forces stationed in South Korea. The upgrades include supplying the U.S. 7th Air Force with JDAMS, replacing older anti-missile systems and attack helicopters, rotating through Stryker Brigade Combat Teams, storing equipment for one heavy armored brigade on ships off the Korean coast and deploying UAVs. And while the timing of the announcement sends an obvious message to North Korea, the restructuring serves other goals as well.
Analysis
At a joint news conference June 1, South Korean and U.S. defense officials announced an $11 billion, three-year plan to significantly enhance U.S. forces deployed on the peninsula. The plan, discussed by United States Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Leon J. LaPorte and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young Kil, includes upgrading anti-missile systems, bombs and helicopters, deploying UAVs and new Stryker Brigade Combat Teams and prepositioning equipment for a heavy armored brigade on ships off the Korean coast.
The timing of the announcement is intended to send signals not only to North Korea -- which recently has renewed its claim of developing nuclear weapons -- but to South Korea, which currently is engaged in negotiations over the future constitution and deployment of U.S. forces. The shift in USFK force structure also represents the broader changes in U.S. deployments planned around the region, and will serve to make the eventual use of USFK forces outside the Korean peninsula a reality.
Among the planned force enhancements are the replacement of older U.S. attack helicopters with AH-64D Apache Longbows and the replacement of much of the U.S. 7th Air Force‘s gravity bombs with Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) precision-guided bombs. Washington also plans to deploy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) anti-missile systems to complement the existing PAC-2 systems, and to send unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with reconnaissance and strike capabilities to the peninsula.
In addition, the U.S. military will rotate the new Stryker Brigade Combat Teams (SBCT) through South Korea and pre-position the equipment for one heavy armored brigade on ships off the Korean coast. The SBCT would see initial deployment in Korea this year. The "upgrades in capabilities demonstrate [the] firm U.S. commitment to the longstanding South Korea-United States alliance," LaPorte was quoted as telling Cho during a May 29 meeting.
The announcement undoubtedly will elicit cries of consternation from Pyongyang, which will view the restructured forces as preparation for an invasion of the North. And Washington is well aware of the signal this sends to North Korea‘s leadership, in spite of assurances that the changing structure has nothing to do with the current nuclear standoff.
But the change also plays into Washington‘s negotiations with South Korea regarding the deployment and basing structure of the USFK. U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, speaking in Seoul on June 1, called on South Korea to enlarge its own defense budget, given Washington‘s significant economic outlay to enhance forces in Korea. And Washington and Seoul will conduct the next round of the Future of the Alliance Policy Initiative on June 4 and 5.
During this meeting, officials from Washington will explain how the SBCT deployment in South Korea will allow the United States to withdraw its forward-deployed troops south of the Han River without weakening the defense capabilities or commitment of U.S. troops to the protection of South Korea. In fact, Washington is likely to argue that by moving the troops farther south, they would remain outside much of the initial wave of North Korean artillery and rockets should Pyongyang launch a strike against South Korea. Given the more maneuverable nature of the SBCT, U.S. forces then could push north in a rapid counterattack, rather than spend time -- as under the current war plan -- regrouping south of the Han before striking north.
But there is one more aspect of the current restructuring not mentioned publicly by Washington: the ability to free up troops in Korea to deploy elsewhere in the region. By creating a swifter, lighter force in South Korea that relies on technology rather than sheer numbers, and by encouraging South Korea to take a stronger role in its own defense -- particularly along the DMZ -- Washington can create an opening for forces stationed in Korea to respond to emergencies throughout the region.
This fits in with the broader strategic realignment of U.S. forces in the Asia Pacific region, which eventually will rely on fewer large basing agreements and instead will create a network of smaller bases, supply depots and staging areas -- from Korea and Japan to the Philippines, Australia and Singapore -- to respond more rapidly to crises in the region. And for Washington, the ability to move some of the 37,000 troops from Korea to other areas without reducing the deterrent or response capabilities of the USFK will represent a significant step in creating a force structure more attuned to changing world conditions and leaving behind Cold War-style deployments -- not only in Asia but Europe as well.
