An American artillery unit in the U.S. has conducted a drill in South Korea to test its capacity for swift deployment to the Korean Peninsula in the event of contingency.

The Eighth U.S. Army said the 18th Field Artillery Brigade, based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, was engaged in the emergency deployment readiness exercise in Boryeong City, South Chungcheong Province on Thursday.

The brigade conducted a live-fire drill toward Jikdo island in the Yellow Sea upon its arrival in South Korea.

The U.S. military added the members of the brigade participated in the drill without advance notice of the details of the operation in order to test their emergency readiness and high-functioning multiple rocket launcher systems, such as the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System(HIMARS), which were mobilized for the drill.