A South Korean K1A2 tank fires a round during live-fire drills at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, Feb. 10. Yonhap

South Korean and U.S. troops have been staging a large-scale combined live-fire exercise at a firing range near the inter-Korean border to enhance their joint operational capabilities, the South's Army said Monday.

The three-week exercise began last Monday at the Rodriguez Live Fire Complex in Pocheon, about 30 kilometers south of the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas, mobilizing some 2,000 troops and over 150 pieces of military hardware, according to the Army.

Troops of the allies have formed combined units to stage various drills, involving South Korean K1A2 tanks, U.S. Stryker combat vehicles, M777A2 howitzers, Apache attack helicopters and A-10 attack aircraft, it said.

The drills are designed to strengthen the allies' combined operational capabilities and help the U.S. military's rotational Stryker unit adjust to conditions on the Korean Peninsula after its arrival in South Korea last October.

The regular exercise had previously been conducted as a standalone training event for rotational U.S. Stryker units before South Korean troops joined it for the first time in July last year. (Yonhap)