The Pentagon’s new defense innovation initiative indicates that U.S. Forces Korea may go beyond its current mission of deterring North Korea to undertake a larger regional and global security role, analysts said Monday.

Capitalizing on new operational concepts backed by innovative, high-tech military assets, the USFK, largely a static force, is likely to be transformed into a force that is more versatile, expeditionary and easily deployable to any conflict outside the peninsula, they said.

Last month, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced the initiative, stressing that it was designed to identify and invest in innovative ways to sustain and advance America’s military dominance for this century.

He said that the U.S. military would make the most of its cutting-edge technologies and systems especially in robotics, autonomous systems, miniaturization, big data and advanced manufacturing, including 3-D printing.

The initiative came as the U.S. military is, as Hagel put it, going through a “defining time of transition” in the face of various challenges including budget constraints and realignment of security interests following drawn-out wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The initiative is of great importance to deal with America’s strategic rivals such as China and Russia that Hagel said have heavily invested in military modernization programs to blunt the U.S. military’s technological edge.

Park Won-gon, security professor at Handong Global University, said that the initiative was in tune with the U.S. military transformation in terms of its force structure and operational tactics and strategies at a time of fiscal austerity.

“Rather than having their forces fixed in one geographical location like U.S. Forces Korea and U.S. Forces Japan, Washington appears to be trying to make them more agile and effectively managed to deal with a variety of security challenges,” he said.

“That is how the U.S. can produce the best possible outcome of their military operations amid financial challenges.”

Park noted that under the innovation initiative, the U.S. military is focusing on how to most effectively project its military power rather than on geographical location.

“The geographical locations, fixed bases with heavy military equipment ... their importance would relatively decrease amid the current U.S. military transformation efforts. What matters is how to create a high-tech, efficient force that would effectively project U.S. military power,” he said.

“Having said this, I believe the role of a military command would be strengthened. The command under a high-tech networking system would effectively put together U.S. troops for prompt deployment to regions where they are needed.”

Some analysts presumed that the new innovation initiative might not have a substantial impact on the USFK operations given that the initiative appeared designed to back up the Pentagon’s new warfighting concepts largely underscoring the roles of the Air Force and Navy, such as the AirSea Battle concept.

“The innovation initiative appears designed to back the new warfighting concepts that focus largely on the roles of the Navy and Air Force,” said Cho Seong-ryoul, an analyst at the Institute for National Security and Strategy.

“Having said this, I assume that USFK, the centerpiece of which is the Army, would not be substantially and directly influenced by the initiative, although the initiative would be designed to be applied for all armed services.”

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)