The Korean and U.S. militaries are now conducting a joint logistics drill to boost their operational forces’ ability to sustain operations in contingencies, the allies said Wednesday, with the biggest number of troops participating so far.

The largest-ever combined joint sustainment training (CJST) kicked off on 13th July for four days, in areas near Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province and Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, said the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CFC).

A total of 4,400 Korean and U.S. troops and some 600 pieces of equipment, including warships and aircraft, were involved in the exercise this year, the largest scale, it said.

In the drills, the soldiers practised the Dragon lift exercise, in which wounded soldiers would be evacuated by medical helicopters and treatment ships in a mock mass casualty scenario.

The allies also engaged in a logistics exercise over the sea demonstrating their ability to move personnel, equipment and materials from sea to land in the event of a port being unavailable. It was the first such exercise in almost nine years, since the last in 2017.

A biennial field exercise, conducted by the CFC, CJST is a joint exercise that trains troops on how to efficiently deliver military logistics personnel, fuel and equipment to combat teams.