Seal Team 6 is taking part in secretive drills alongside other elite US forces in South Korea amid rising tensions with Pyongyang, news.com.au reports.
South Korean media claims the famed Seal Team 6 — which killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011 — is part of the Foal Eagle and Key Resolve exercise being carried out from March 7 to April 30 in South Korea.
While US military would not confirm the reports, it said “ground, air, naval and special operations” are taking part in “several joint and combined field training operations” which involve up to 17,000 troops, reported News.com.au.
Other elite military teams involved are the Army Rangers, Delta Force and Green Berets. The US’ THAAD missile defence system has also been deployed to the region.
South Korea’s JoongAng Daily has claimed the teams would take part in a drill to simulate the removal of Kim Jong-un — a move which has been explicitly denied by Former US Navy Commander Gary Ross.
The issue of Seal team 6’s involvement was asked to Commander Ross, who said: “There are variety of Special Operations Forces (SOF) participating in Foal Eagle, as they do in most regional exercises.”
“Foal Eagle is a regularly-scheduled, annual exercise that is the culmination of many months of planning and it is not being conducted in response to the current situation on peninsula,” he said.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) is a “hit to kill” system that provides capability to intercept and defend population centres around the world. Makers Lockheed Martin claim it has a 100 per cent success rate and describe it as “one of the most advanced missile defence systems in the world.”
It works by using radar to detect incoming threats and firing interceptors from truck-mounted launchers which destroy missiles using kinetic energy.
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