U.S. and Philippine troops fired a High Mobility Artillery Rocket System during a live-fire exercise as part of a joint U.S.-Philippines Army-on-Army exercise in Raul, Nueva Ecija, Philippines, March 31, 2023.
Ezra Acayan | Getty Images News | Getty Images
The United States has no immediate plans to withdraw its intermediate-range missile systems based in the Philippines, despite China’s demands, and is testing the feasibility of using them in a regional conflict, according to people familiar with the matter.
The two countries said at the time that the Typhon system, which can carry cruise missiles capable of striking Chinese targets, was deployed in joint drills earlier this year and would remain in place.
The Southeast Asian island nation located to the south of Taiwan is Important parts The base is central to America’s Asia strategy and would be a vital base for forces supporting Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.
China and Russia have condemned the system’s first deployment in the Indo-Pacific region and accused Washington of stoking an arms race.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it was extremely concerned about plans to maintain the system.
“This will seriously threaten the security of countries in the region and intensify geopolitical conflict,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a news conference.
The deployment, some details of which have not been reported until now, was announced by the Philippines, a defense treaty ally of China and the United States. collision A hotly contested part of the South China Sea, the strategic waterway has seen a series of clashes at sea and in the air in recent months.
Philippine officials said Philippine and U.S. militaries continued to train with the missile system, which is based in northern Luzon, which faces the South China Sea and near the Taiwan Strait. The joint drills end this month, but they were not aware of any plans to immediately return the system, the officials said.
Philippine military spokesman Col. Louis Demaara said Wednesday the training was continuing and it was up to Philippine authorities and U.S. Pacific Army to decide how long the missile systems would remain in the country.
“The decision to station troops rests with the higher command, but most importantly, this is owned by US Pacific Command and is not our capability,” he told Reuters.
A USARPAC spokesman said the Philippine military may keep the Typhon there beyond September, and that soldiers had been training with the aircraft until last week and were conducting “consultations on the use of the system with a focus on integrating host nation support.”
A senior Philippine government official and another person familiar with the matter said the United States and the Philippines are testing the system for possible use in a conflict and its effectiveness in that environment, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity.
Government officials said the Typhon is designed to be mobile and can be moved as needed, “so it can be easily deployed when the need arises” to test the feasibility of deploying it in the Philippines.
The office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. did not respond to a request for comment.
In April, the US military flew a Typhon, capable of firing SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles with a range of more than 1,000 miles, to the Philippines in what the US military called a “historic first” and “an important step in our cooperative relationship with the Philippines.”
Satellite images taken on Wednesday by commercial satellite company Planet Labs and reviewed by Reuters showed the typhoon at Laoag International Airport in Ilocos Norte province.
A senior government official who spoke to Reuters said there were no immediate plans to back down.
“If it is removed, it will be because its purpose has been fulfilled and it may be (re)deployed after all repairs and construction are completed,” the official said, adding that keeping the system has strategic value to the Philippines to deter China.
“I want to give them sleepless nights.”
Reuters reported that the United States is amassing a range of anti-ship weapons in Asia as Washington tries to rapidly catch up in the Indo-Pacific missile race where China holds a large lead. Reported.
The U.S. military has refrained from saying how many missiles it will deploy to the Indo-Pacific region, but more than 800 SM-6 missiles are planned for purchase over the next five years, according to government documents outlining military purchases. Thousands of Tomahawks are already in the U.S. military’s inventory, the documents show.
China has repeatedly condemned the Typhon deployment, with Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian saying in May that Manila and the United States had posed “a huge war risk to the region.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the deployment in June when he announced that the country would resume production of medium- and short-range nuclear-capable missiles.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Enrique Manalo assured his Chinese counterpart in July that the presence of Philippine missile systems was not a threat to China and would not destabilize the region.
Despite upholding the Philippines’ claims in a 2016 arbitration award, the United States has said it has fully militarized at least three of China’s islands in the South China Sea and equipped them with anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles.
China claims its military installations in the Spratly Islands are purely for defensive purposes and that it is free to do whatever it wants on its territory.
