Navy and Marine Corps Participate in Thailand's Cobra Gold Exercise, the Largest in Southeast Asia

330 Soldiers and Nojeokbong Ship Dispatched... Amphibious Landing, Underwater Infiltration, and Underwater Demolition Training

Our Navy and Marine Corps are participating in '2024 Cobra Gold,' the largest multinational joint exercise in Southeast Asia held in Thailand. The Cobra Gold joint exercise has been held annually since 1982 by the Thai Joint Chiefs of Staff and the United States Indo-Pacific Command, marking its 42nd iteration this year. It is considered one of the oldest multinational military exercises in the world and the largest joint exercise in Southeast Asia.

Photo of Nojeokbongham (LST-II, 4900-ton class)

According to the Navy on the 14th, our military's Cobra Gold training squadron will set sail from Busan Operational Base on the same day. The training squadron consists of about 330 personnel, including approximately 140 Navy members and 180 Marine Corps members, along with the Nojeokbong ship (LST-II, 4,900 tons), six Landing Assault Armored Vehicles (KAAV), two K-55 self-propelled howitzers, and one K-77 fire control armored vehicle.

This year’s training will be conducted from the 26th of this month to the 10th of next month across 11 locations in Thailand, including Sattahip, Hat Yai, Pattaya, Lopburi, Chanthaburi, Sa Kaeo, and Rayong. In addition to Thailand and the United States, which are hosting the exercise, seven countries including Korea, Japan, Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia are officially participating. China, Australia, and India are joining in humanitarian support training.

Our training squadron will participate in outdoor maneuver exercises, command post exercises, humanitarian civil activities such as constructing school buildings in the Lopburi area, and cyber defense training. The outdoor maneuver exercises include joint amphibious landings featuring 'decisive action,' joint naval exercises, tactical firing, small unit tactics, special warfare training, jungle survival training, and underwater infiltration training. Additionally, during underwater construction training, multinational underwater construction personnel will conduct underwater demolition training and underwater obstacle removal training using remotely operated vehicles (ROV) at the integrated diving training center. Through command post exercises, the joint staff will practice procedures for planning military operations and relief activities by simulating conflict scenarios between virtual countries.

Notably, this cyber defense training will involve personnel from the Navy Cyber Operations Center participating remotely from Korea, enabling cyber operations to track and defend against cyber attacks without spatial constraints. Furthermore, the training squadron plans to visit the Thai Navy Prasae Memorial Hall, a ship that participated in the Korean War, and pay respects at the war memorial.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.