US Deploys Intermediate-Range Missile Launcher to Philippines Amid Rising Tensions with China

2024.04.25 You posted at 18:11 JST

(CNN) By the 25th, the US Army announced that it had sent a ground-based medium-range missile launcher (MRC) to the Philippines to take advantage of joint military exercises with the country.

This is the first time that the launcher, also known as Typhon, has been deployed in the Indo-Pacific region. It is capable of launching missiles with a range of up to 1,600 km. According to military experts, China’s strongholds in the South China Sea, where territorial disputes are on the rise, as well as the southern regions of mainland China and areas along the Taiwan Strait, are within range.

The dispute over the sovereignty of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea has recently escalated between the Philippines and China, with China taking coercive measures such as spraying Philippine supply ships with water cannons.

China has opposed the use of the MRC to the Philippines, and has criticized the United States for inciting armed conflict. In a regular briefing, a Foreign Ministry spokesman urged the United States to seriously consider the security concerns of other countries.

The US Army explained that the MRC deployment was in conjunction with joint military exercises with the Philippines that began on the 11th of this month. He did not mention the duration of the practice. The United States and the Philippines are planning a series of joint military exercises, the first of which began on the 8th of this month. On the 22nd, the biggest regular exercise to date, “Balikatan” began.

The MRC can carry the SM6 ballistic missile interceptor and the Tomahawk cruise missile. According to the Missile Defense Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the SM6 can target ships within a range of 370 kilometers. The Tomahawk has a range of 1,600 km.

Military experts described the use of Typhon as the first demonstration of the intention of the United States to correct the regional situation in which China has long been an advantage in missile power.

A medium-range missile launcher (MRC) being loaded from a US Air Force C17 transport aircraft.

Koh, a researcher at the Rajaratnam Institute of International Studies at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (RSIS), said China’s missile forces have posed a threat to the US military in the “first island chain,” which including the northern part of the Philippines, Japan and Taiwan is also being positioned as a way to “balance” the situation. The government is also looking to improve the air defense capabilities of the “second island chain,” which extends eastward to the US island of Guam. These two island lines are China’s own military defense line.

In a 2021 report, the US Army military magazine Military Review explained that China’s military rocket force has the largest ground-based missile force in the world. The number of conventional ballistic missiles and cruise missiles exceeds 2,200. He also said it has a sufficient number of anti-ship missiles and has attack capabilities capable of neutralizing the missile defense capabilities of all US surface combatants in the South China Sea.

Although the deployment of the MRC will not immediately erode China’s numerical superiority, the MRC, with its mobile capabilities, will pose a problem for Chinese operational planners. In this respect, it could be an important obstacle.

Military experts believe that the US military’s MRC deployment in the Philippines is not a permanent measure. Coe argued that the ability to immediately deploy Typhon to previously explored launch sites in places like the Philippines would strengthen the chances of emergency survival. It was also described as a test of China’s relatively new and unproven missile strategy, including intelligence gathering, surveillance, reconnaissance and targeting.