The US military has deployed its new Typhon medium-range surface-to-surface missile launcher to the Indo-Pacific region for the first time for joint military exercises in the northern Philippines, in a move likely to unsettle China.
The US military announced on Monday that it sent the launcher, capable of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles and SM-6 missiles, to the Northern Luzon region of the Philippines for the Salaknib 2024 joint military exercise.
“In a historic first, the 1st Multi-Domain Task Force successfully deployed the Medium Range Capability (MRC) missile system to the Northern Luzon region of the Philippines on 11 April 2024 as part of the Salaknib 24 Exercise,” the statement said. “This important deployment marks an important milestone for the new capability while improving interoperability, readiness and defence capabilities in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”
A stone’s throw away from Taiwan
Although the military did not specify the exact location where the launcher was deployed for the exercise, the US military currently has access to five different sites on the island of Luzon, the largest and most populous island in the Philippine archipelago.
The island, the northernmost point of the Philippines, lies about 100 kilometres (62 miles) off Taiwan. Senator Maria Imelda Marcos, formerly chairwoman of the Philippine Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and sister of President Ferdinand Marcos, said in a meeting with defence officials, “Gentlemen, what is our struggle with Taiwan? What is our war with Taiwan? I don’t understand, why are we conducting all military exercises in Luzon… a stone’s throw from Taiwan?”
Given that Tomahawk missiles have a range of more than 1,600 kilometres, any deployment there would not only cover the entire Luzon Strait, but could also target parts of the Chinese coast and various People’s Liberation Army bases in and around the disputed South China Sea.
The commander of the US military in the Pacific, General Charles Flynn, recently reiterated comments he made in December that the US would deploy a medium-range missile launcher in the region.
“I’m not going to discuss which system it is, I’m not going to say where or when, I’m just saying that long-range precision firing capability will come to the region,” Flynn said on 3 April.
China said the official deployment of long-range missiles to the Indo-Pacific region would be a “dangerous trend” and would lead to a strong response from Beijing.
“China is firmly opposed to this and will take decisive countermeasures,” Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian told a news conference on Friday. We urge the United States to truly respect the security concerns of other countries and stop undermining regional peace and stability,” Wu Qian, a spokesman for the Chinese Defence Ministry, told a news conference on Friday.
Japan was also among the possibilities
The US Army announced last year that the system, which has four trailer-based launchers and other supporting equipment, had conducted a series of successful tests with Tomahawk and SM-6 missiles.
Although it has often been suggested that Japan could host the system, this has not been possible due to difficulties in securing public understanding. Deploying the system in the country would make its deployment sites a target for China’s own powerful missile arsenal.
Nevertheless, US officials have hinted that temporary transfers to Japan for training are a possibility.
Permanent but dangerous option Guam
A more permanent deployment of the system in the region could be on the US territory of Guam, home to a large military base. Such a move would be the first since the Cold War and would allow China to increase its stockpile of powerful missiles capable of striking Japan and US military bases in the Pacific.
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF), signed in 1987 between the United States and the then Soviet Union, banned all conventional and nuclear land-based missiles capable of travelling between 500 km and 5,500 km (310 miles and 3,400 miles). However, the United States withdrew from the INF in 2019, claiming that the Russians were secretly testing and fielding missiles in violation of the treaty.
Beijing, which is not part of the INF Treaty, is estimated to have 1,850 missiles with a range of 1,000 km to 5,500 km, according to the Pentagon’s latest annual report on the Chinese military.
Defenders of the system have said that a rotational, shorter deployment to Guam, or possibly to or near US Asian allies, could help strengthen deterrence against China.
Critics, however, warned that such a move would force China to further strengthen its already powerful missile and nuclear forces and bring Washington and Beijing closer to a conflict that both say they are trying to avoid.
